


A New Vision

by The_fake_KamalaKhan



Series: Earth-5768 [1]
Category: Captain Marvel (2019), Champions (Comics), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Adoption, Canonical Character Death, DC Comics References, F/F, Families of Choice, Gen, Grief/Mourning, Hurt/Comfort, Past Relationship(s), Post-Avengers: Endgame (Movie), Posthumous Character Appearance, Retirement, Robot Woes, Unconventional Families, Wanda Maximoff Needs a Hug
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-23
Updated: 2020-06-20
Packaged: 2021-03-01 17:20:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 28,835
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23810701
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_fake_KamalaKhan/pseuds/The_fake_KamalaKhan
Summary: Life hasn't been kind to Wanda Maximoff. Her family is gone, she is considered a freak by society, and she even lost the man she loved. As Wanda tries to build a more normal life for herself, she discovers that her late boyfriend has given her one last gift.A daughter.
Relationships: Carol Danvers/Maria Rambeau, Michelle Jones/Peter Parker, Wanda Maximoff & Viv Vision, Wanda Maximoff/Vision
Series: Earth-5768 [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1776901
Comments: 46
Kudos: 34





	1. Viv Vision

In a suburb in one of the more quaint parts of the colorful city that is New York, a Uhaul was parked just outside the curb as two adult women were beginning the arduous and (potentially literal) backbreaking work of moving heavy boxes to the house that they will soon call home.

One of them was a middle-aged black woman, a tough old former SHIELD pilot named Maria Rambeau. The other was a younger white woman, 20s, with long, light brown hair. She was the more famous (or perhaps infamous) out of the two. The brunette was none other than Wanda Maximoff, AKA Scarlet Witch, retired Avenger and one of the top three most powerful humans in the universe.

Despite her impressive credentials, however, Wanda at this moment was just another civilian, like Maria, looking to rebuild her life after spending five years as a pile of ash (long story).

As the two hefted boxes toward their new home, Maria stared at the two-story house, admiring it, before saying, "Ain't she a beaut, Wanda?"

"It's... hah, certainly... something," Wanda grunted as she struggled to carry was seemed like a half-ton box, "What is even in this thing?! Fuck!"

"Language," Maria scolded half-heartedly, "Why don't you just use your mutant powers to carry all our stuff? You tore apart alien war machines with those things. What's a few boxes?"

"Rather... not... test my luck... with this... neighborhood. Don't wanna... freak anyone out."

Maria scoffed playfully. "Remind me to take you to the gym later, then. Ought to pack more muscle on those bones."

* * *

After a grueling two hours, the two women finally took their stuff out of the car. Their boxes were currently spread out across the empty living room, a typical phase in the moving process.

Panting heavily, Wanda wiped the sweat off her brow and asked, "Why didn't you just ask the help to do this for us?"

"I ain't made of money," Maria said almost in a scolding manner, "I was only gonna pay for the truck. Besides, moving our own boxes builds character, Wan. Don't let anyone do anything for you that you can do for yourself. That's what my mom used to say."

"Sound advice."

"She could've loosened up though," Maria joked as she took a seat on the floor, "Like, by a lot. Ma was no fun at parties."

"Well, you could've had worse," Wanda joked back, "She could've been a mutant terrorist!"

"She was certainly scary like one," Maria relied. The two women then laughed together for a moment.

When they're done, Wanda spoke more seriously, "Thanks for letting me move in with you, Maria. I appreciate it."

"It was nothing."

"No, it isn't. I really had nowhere else to go, and you didn't have take me in like you did."

"Don't get all touchy feelie on me now, Wan. You and your outlaw friends have been bumming it with me for so long that it only made sense that one of you will stick around for the long haul. Personally, I'm glad it's you. You're not as stiff as the others."

"If you didn't like the company, why did you help hide us from the authorities?", Wanda asked.

"I owed Steve, Nat, and Sam for saving my life from Hydra."

"And you owed me by proxy."

"It does help that you're cute," Maria said with a wink.

"Don't let Carol catch you say that."

"She doesn't mind me looking. Besides, we both know I'm way out of your league," Wanda snickered as Maria got up, "Alright, break's over. Get your things and pick out a room. Just not the master bedroom. That belongs to me. And Carol when she's finally done with her space stuff."

"Yes ma'am," Wanda said picking up her personal bag and a box and going upstairs.

* * *

Another hour later, Wanda squatted in the middle of her room surrounded by her things- a dufflebag, a small box, and her sleeping bag. She preferred to travel light given the life she's led.

Wanda was currently texting someone on her phone, a Sam W.

 _"You done?",_ he asked.

Wanda replied, _"For now. Furniture tomorrow. Ugh."_

_"Moving day's the worst! At least you got telekinesis to help you out."_

_"Actually, not using my powers for a while. For the best."_

Wanda waited for a little longer, but then Sam finally texted back.

_"Sorry."_

_"Don't be. Not your fault that I'm a filthy mutie."_

_"You're not a 'mutie'."_

_"Kidding."_

Another wait. Then Sam texted back.

_"The place good?"_

Wanda took a frivolous look around and shrugged. She texted back.

_"It's okay."_

_"Are you good?"_

Wanda stared at the words Sam sent her in silence for a moment. She then put her phone down and sighed. Wanda looked over to the little box placed next to her dufflebag. It's labelled "Vis' Things".

It's been six years since the love of Wanda's life died. Well, for Wanda, it's only been one year. But either way, the death of Vision hit her hard. You'd think after everything's she's been through in her life that Wanda Maximoff would be used to loss, but it never got easier for her. In fact, this loss was much, much worse.

After everything Wanda has suffered- the loss of her home, the death of her mother and stepfather, Pietro's death- Vision felt like the one chance for her to finally have something that she can hold on to. A happy life with someone whom she loves deeply. Although they spent lot of time apart during the better part of two years, the moments she spent with this amazing metal man was some of the best she had in her life.

Despite all of the difficulty that their long distance relationship brought them, Wanda wouldn't trade a single second of it for the world. And at one point, she even thought that she had a future with him.

But then Thanos killed him right in front of her. He ripped the Mind Stone out of his head, and Wanda Maximoff found herself all alone once again.

With her tears suppressed, Wanda texted, _"Fine,"_ intended to end the conversation there as she put the phone in her pocket. She went over to that little box that contained the few things that Vision kept in his all too brief life. One by one, she took some of them out and remembered.

A copy of the book version of _Pinocchio._

The "alien vase" that Wanda bought from that shady dealer from Transia for Vision's birthday.

And a photo commemorating their first date. Outside that Italian place next to that organic place in downtown New York. They were holding together. And they were happy. Really happy.

Tears of grief and regret over what could've been started to stream down Wanda's face as she took a moment to put down the photo and cry alone. It was hard trying to move on. Wanda started by quitting the Avengers, vaguely reassuring Sam, now Captain America, that she will come back to the team one day after sorting through her personal issues. If such a thing were possible.

For right now, that seemed so far away for Wanda. So impossible.

Even after committing herself in finding herself a measure of normalcy by moving in with Maria Rambeau, finding closure for herself after everything was proving to be difficult. Wanda just wanted wrap her grief and loneliness with her Avengers uniform and throw that away so that she can finally build something resembling a normal life, a life she was cheated out of twice now.

But it's never that easy, isn't it?

Wanda gathered the things that she took out from Vision's box and returned them. But as her hands shuffle around inside the box, the back of Wanda's right hand against something smooth and papery. Curious, Wanda took it out.

It was flat rectangle wrapped around a gaudy white and blue paper. It's Vision's Chanukah gift to Wanda. The gift that he never had the chance to give.

Wanda found it among Vision's effects after she was revived. She never had the heart to open it. Looking at was hard enough. In fact, Wanda wasn't even sure she packed the damn thing before coming here, but apparently she did.

It was way past the Chanukah that Vision intended to gift this to Wanda, and it was definitely past the Chanukah when she came back. No matter how many times Wanda tried to will herself to open the present, she never could. Because the reminder of what this gift represented, of a life that could've been but wasn't, was too hard to bear.

"Wan," Maria spoke out to the younger woman from the opened doorframe, "You okay?"

Wanda looked up at Maria, and she felt self-conscious about her reddened eyes and wet cheeks. Hastily, Wanda wiped away her tears and said weakly, "It's nothing..."

Maria tilted her head doubtfully. "I'd hardly call that nothing."

"It's just... old memories," Wanda answered hesitantly.

Maria looked at Wanda with a knowing look. "You miss him."

Wanda sighed. "Of course I do..."

Maria walked over squatted next to Wanda. "I want to say it gets better, but..."

"The love of your life came back," Wanda said somewhat bitterly, "But I know mine won't."

"Sorry."

"Did you... ever tried to move on?", Wanda asked, "When you thought Carol died, did you try to... find someone else?"

"Once or twice, but it never stuck," Maria said regretfully, "Honestly, the only way I got through those years was Monica. I had to put my feelings, my grief, aside for her."

"Great, so all I have to do to get over him is get a kid," Wanda tried to joke.

"What you need is something that will take your mind off of your grief," Maria said with a supportive hand on Wanda's shoulder, "Have you found a job yet?"

"No such luck. Believe it or not, there's not many job openings for mutant immigrants with a criminal record and a lack of a formal education. So I guess I'll be bumming it here for a while. Being useless... and sad all day."

Maria sighed. "I'll find you something to do. Don't worry about that," Wanda barely acknowledged Maria's words, not that she blamed the mutant woman. Maria found them pretty hollow too. She then looked down to the gift in Wanda's hands and said to her, "You might as well open it."

Wanda looked at the older woman with confusion. "What?"

"It sounds to me that you won't be getting any good news for a while. So might as well spoil yourself now, eh?", Wanda lifted up the package hesitantly. Maria told her, "I'm here for you, Wan."

Wanda took a quick glance at Maria before looking back at the package. She moved one hand to lift up the glittery ribbon, but she flinched and hesitated. She was just about to give up when Maria suddenly placed her hand over Wanda's.

"I got you," Maria said softly.

Gathering her strength, Wanda disassembled the packaging one piece at a time. With Maria's help, she undid the ribbon, then ripped out the tape, and finally they slipped the paper off the gift to reveal a tablet with a sticky note attached to the screen.

Maria whistled. "A Galaxy Note 9. State-of-the-art stuff... six years ago."

Wanda was more focused on the note. It was in red ink and clearly Vision's handwriting.

_"Go to videos. Press play."_

Wanda did what the note told her. She entered the video gallery to play the only video stored in the device. When Wanda hit play, it showed a face that Wanda thought she can only see again in her dreams.

Vision in his blonde, human form. In that tacky sweater and in his goofy, doorless room inside the Compound. He spoke in this prerecorded message in a familiar tone that haunted Wanda to this day.

_"Wanda. If you are getting this, it means that I was away on Avengers business or otherwise preoccupied. And for that, I am sorry."_

Wanda sniffled. That intellectual, overly polite dufus. If only it were so.

_"But thankfully, I've planned ahead to account for such an inconvenience, and hopefully, you will have an enjoyable Chanukah. I hope you are happy even if I'm not there. I know it hasn't been easy for these past two years, but the time we spent together was some of the best of my life. By now, I would've executed my secret plan to get you and the rest of our team amnesty. If you're watching this now, I know I've managed to convinced the right number of people to relax some of the more... controversial aspects of the Sokovia Accords."_

Wanda didn't know that. All this time, she didn't know that this was what Vision was doing whenever they weren't together. Thinking back on it, it made too much sense. Vision never met a problem that cannot be solved with logic and a lot of planning. It wasn't that much of a shock that he would approach the problems hampering their relationship like this.

 _"But yesterday, as Bil Keane would say, is history. As for today,"_ Vision actually looked apprehensive there for a moment, _"I hope we are still as close now as we are when I recorded this. I made the calculations, and they said that we are... solid. Emotionally speaking. But I learned not to put as much faith in predictive calculus after our little... civil war. But I have faith that we are. You taught me that. That's why I'm comfortable doing this now. Please go over to this location. Your gift is over at the basement of this warehouse. Happy Chanukah, Wanda Maximoff. I hope to see you soon."_

By the time the video ended, Wanda just paused there, tears once again streaming down her face as feelings she tried to shove deep down over the past years came up overwhelming into the surface.

Maria said, "We're going there, right?"

Wanda sniffled and wiped her tears. "Yeah. We are."

* * *

After taking the Uhaul over to the warehouse Vision pointed to, Wanda and Maria entered the abandoned building and started to make their way down the dark, damp staircase.

"Damn it," Maria said a little creeped out by her unpleasant surroundings, "Couldn't your robot boyfriend send this gift over through the mail or something?"

"He's a synthezoid, and I'm sure he has a good reason," Wanda replied before the two women stopped in front of a locked double door thar led into the basement. Wanda looked at the lock and quickly ripped it apart with her telekinesis.

"You'd think someone as smart as Vision would invest in a better lock," Maria remarked.

"He did. It's made out of vibranium," Wanda said.

"You broke vibranium," Maria said astonished at Wanda, "Damn girl."

The two then entered through the doors to find a wider space. It was dark and empty except for the mechanical contraption bolted to rhe far side of the room. It was pretty advanced with an opaque, metal pod centered on it and a computer console attached right next to it.

"Do you have any idea what that is?", Wanda asked Maria.

"How should I know?"

"You worked with weird technology before."

"He's _your_ boyfriend."

The two just walked towards the machine. Wanda walked over to the computer console and started it up. It automatically played another video once it activated. It's from Vision again.

_"While you and the Captain were on the run, Mr. Stark and I discovered this in a Hydra base near Arlington, Virginia. Apparently the remnants of Hydra's Science Division attempted to create a synthezoid like me. We stopped them, naturally, and fortunately for us, the synthezoid they were making was nowhere near complete. Stark wanted to destroy it, but... it was alive enough. I didn't have the heart to end what was essentially an infant. Especially one like me. So I took the synthezoid here, and finished what Hydra started in secret. I've thought about what I wanted to do with it for a long time now. No, with her. To complete her programming, I needed the brainwaves of an organic mind, a human mind to compliment the core personality matrix. To make her truly alive. I believe you were be the most worthy template."_

Maria whispered, "Is he saying what I think he's saying?"

Wanda was almost speechless. "He is..."

_"Please understand. I'm not forcing you into this. If you don't wish to be the girl's mother, you can. She will understand. I will make it up to you and her, I promise. But if this is what you really want, I believe it's the beginning of something beautiful. I love you, Wanda. I can't wait to come home. Whatever you decide."_

"That was... not what I expected," Maria said a little weirded out.

"What did you expect?", Wanda remarked dryly as she continued to stare into the now blank screen with an equally blank look in her eyes as she processed this metric ton of information.

"I dunno, a... puppy or something?", Maria shrugged, "A robot puppy. Not a robot daughter. I mean, this is insane! No offense, but I was under the impression that you two weren't... there yet."

"We weren't," Wanda said emotionlessly as she pressed a button. These words echoed in her mind. _"What if I missed all the trains?",_ "But we were close."

The button activated the pod's shutters to reveal a synthetic girl with pink metal skin, long green hair, and a yellow gem embedded in her forehead. She wore a green and red jumpsuit with an emblem of three gold diamonds, Vision's emblem, on her chest. Unlike her creator, however, this female synthezoid looked more like a teenager as opposed to Vision's more mature visage.

This synthetic girl was a child.

"My child...", Wanda reasoned. Her brainwaves created this girl. How else was she supposed to think of her?

"Mazel tov," Maria remarked. She then asked, "You sure this is what you really want? As a mother myself, I don't recommend you taking this job unless you really mean it."

Wanda took a step closer to the inert robot girl and placed a hand over the glass encasing her. She looked so much like her father, Wanda thought. Her skin was a different color, and she had actual hair, but Wanda couldn't deny that she saw a little of Vision in the teenage girl's face. An echo of her brother in her hands. Herself in the hair.

This girl was the perfect combination of her and Vision. She looked like she came from a future with him that ceased to be, but thanks to Vision, can be again. This was Vision's final gift to Wanda, even if he didn't realize this.

One last chance to be with a family she's always wanted.

Wanda looked back at Maria and said firmly, "I'm sure."

Maria nodded as Wanda walked over and activated the synthezoid's startup program via the computer console. With that, the pod started to light up as the machine jumpstarted the girl's artificial body with golden energy. The gem on her forehead glowed brilliantly like a star in the night sky.

The glass pod then opened up, allowing both Wanda and Maria to step closer to this robot girl. After a while, the lights die down and the gem in the girl's forehead stopped shining. The lights, however, were then replaced with small movements as the synthezoid stirred in her sleep for a lack of a better word. The synthetic girl's eyes then fluttered before slowly opening wide to look at Wanda with strange white eyes.

Wanda couldn't help but smile at her new daughter. She said, "Welcome to the world of the living. My name is Wanda," she then reached to hold the girl's hand, "And I'm your mother."

"Mo... ther," the synthezoid repeated shakily. After spending a good few seconds comprehending Wanda's words to her, the synthezoid smiled back and said more fondly, "Mother."

For the first time in a long time, Wanda felt light in her heart. She asked, "What's your name?"

"My name?", the girl wondered before spending a fraction of a second to respond, "My name is Vivian."

"Can I call you Viv?"

She nodded. "Affirmative."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm basing this story on Tom King's Vision miniseries. Sure, it's not a note-for-note adaptation of the story due to MCU continuity. For one thing, Viv is the only member of the synthezoid family that Vision got to make in this continuity. Wanda has to raise Viv alone with assistance from her roommate, Maria Rambeau, and later Carol Danvers when she finally wraps up her business in space and retires (no definite schedule on that for now).
> 
> In the original series, the Vision family has to struggle to try to fit into human society, resulting in a lot of dark things happening due to existential crises, discrimination, a couple home invasions, and an immortal plant that can tell the future (no really). I'll try to fit in some of those troubles here for Viv, but I'll be mostly tell my own story here. Wanda's struggle will more be due to the fact that she has to deal with her own emotional baggage in order to better care for Viv. Not only that, but they'll also face struggle due to the fact that neither of them are normal, and you know how the Marvel Universe is with freaks.
> 
> To serve that end, I plan on drawing on Wanda's family into this story sooner or later. Magneto comes to mind, because his presence might complicate things once things between Viv and Wanda begin to settle down. That's why I retconned the father who died in that explosion when Wanda was a kid to just be a stepfather. Wanda's mother divorced Magneto due to his involvement in mutant terrorism and remarried.
> 
> I also plan on placing Viv in Midtown Tech, where she can hang out with Peter Parker and friends. This takes place after Far From Home, so there's that. Might also add in one or two teen heroes from the comics. Have the top two contenders on my mind, but I'll wait to see how the story goes first.
> 
> Of course, that stuff is subject to change if I find better avenues to explore in this story. But for now, I have a decent structure on my mind to how this story is supposed to go.
> 
> Thanks for the read, and have a nice day.


	2. Orientation

It was now late at night in suburban New York. Maria and Wanda had just arrived from the warehouse with the newest and most unusual member of this already strange household.

Vivian "Viv" Vision. The synthezoid daughter of Vision and Wanda Maximoff.

The three stepped off the Uhaul to enter the house. Maria went ahead to turn on the lights and allow Wanda and her new daughter to enter this still incomplete home.

Holding Viv's shoulders, Wanda shepherded the girl into the house and told her, "This is our home. I'm sorry if it's a little empty, but we literally just moved in here."

"I don't mind," Viv said before pulling herself away from her mother's grasp to fly forward and float free around the mostly empty living room. The young synthezoid had a ecstatic look on her face as she explored the breadth of the lower floor through her own power of flight. After a bit, Viv returned to Wanda and Maria. "The space is much appreciated. Thank you."

"You have powers," Maria said a bit astounded.

Viv nodded. "Father felt it prudent that I be given as many advantages as possible to secure a preferable future within human society."

"And what sorts of... advantages are we talking about here?", Maria asked.

"As you can see, I can fly. I can also alter my body's density at will, process a hundred times more information than an organic mind, have access to built-in technical programs, and I can channel energy from the gem on my forehead."

"So you're basically a mini-Vision," Maria remarked.

Wanda stared at the mentioned gem for a bit curiously before asking, "What is that anyway? It can't possibly be an Infinity Stone."

"And you would be correct," Viv started to explain, "This is an artificial construct of Father's own design. He called it a 'Solar Gem', a complex crystalline matrix capable of storing and amplifying energy from outside sources with the intended energy source most obviously being sunlight."

"You're solar-powered?", Maria joked, "How environmentally friendly."

"Indeed," Viv responded not skipping a beat, "However, the Solar Gem's power output is only half as powerful as Father's Mind Stone. However, he assured me that it is still a significant source of power nonetheless."

"I'm sure it is," Wanda said smiling.

Viv then raised her brow curiously, "By the way, where is Father? I haven't detected his presence within sensor range of this vicinity. Is he away on Avengers business?"

Maria shuffled a bit uncomfortably. Wanda's smile dropped as she looked away from her curious daughter.

Feeling worried, Viv asked, "Did something happen to Father?"

Wanda let out a big sigh. "Viv, he... he passed away six years ago."

Stunned, Viv can only say, "What?"

"He was killed while on duty," Wanda explained while feeling a knife of grief scrapping at her heart, "He died a hero."

Viv struggled to regain her composure as she said, "I see..."

Maria looked at the teen sympathetically. "You gonna be alright, kid?"

"I...", Viv drawled now at a loss for words, "I need to... to process this information. Where should I stay tonight?"

Wanda answered, "My room is upstairs. First door to the left."

"Thank you," Viv said with a courteous bow before flying upstairs and phasing through the door.

Maria told Wanda, "Poor kid. First couple of hours of life, and she's told that her father won't be coming home."

"I know the feeling," Wanda said more glumly.

"Look, I may not be well practiced when it comes to the needs of a nigh-invulnerable robot child, but I am a parent. And let me tell you, that girl needs her mother right now."

Wanda plays with her fingers uncomfortably. "Perhaps she needs some space first..."

"Later," Maria said firmly, "She's going through all of this for the first time, and she's already in a world of hurt. Viv needs her mother now. She needs to know that she's not going through this alone."

Wanda sighed. "It's just... comforting her means that I have to talk about Vision, and... I'm not sure I'm ready for that yet."

"Then it will be good for both of you," Maria countered, "Wanda, being a mother means putting your child's needs ahead of yours. You told me that you were serious about this."

"And I am," Wanda said hesitantly before taking a deep breath, "Alright."

* * *

Entering her room, Wanda found that the lights were still out. However, she still found Viv curled up in a corner with a blank but hurt look on her face. Wanda looked at her daughter with pity as she walked over to Viv and sat right next to her.

Wanda was silent for a moment, wanting Viv to speak at her own pace. The young girl then spoke dryly, "You took the stairs. You should have flown here. It would've saved you 10.5 seconds."

"I know. Just trying to be normal," Wanda then chuckled, "Gotta get into the habit now, or I'll never learn."

Viv just hummed. Another stretch of solemn silence ensued before girl said, "He used to speak to me. Father... while he was creating me, he used to talk to me. In cyberspace, of course."

"I'm sorry you never got the chance to meet him in person," Wanda said softly.

"I was looking forward to finally seeing the eyes of my creator after spending years in hibernation. He saved my life and allowed me to grow beyond the weapon that Hydra intended me to be. Even though I will never get the chance to meet him, I will always be grateful to Father."

"Your father helped me too," Wanda said before a nostalgic smile graced her face, "That was just the kind of man that he was. That's why I loved him."

"I loved him too," Viv echoed sadly. She then turned to Wanda and said, "But at least we have each other now... Mother."

"Thanks," Wanda then got up, "Maria's probably cooking by now. Better help her out. House rules."

"May I assist you?", Viv asked getting up too.

"Of course. You know how to cook?"

"Father uploaded six hundred and sixteen recipes into my memory banks."

Wanda smirked. "Of course he did."

* * *

Much later, Maria, Wanda, and Viv are gathered around one of the kitchen counters to celebrate the new home with a lavish meal. Wanda had a plate of stir fry and prune juice with her, while Maria had a bowl full of gumbo. There was also a couple more plates stuff with delicious food sitting in the middle, but despite this righteous bounty, Viv just sat in her seat in polite silence.

Maria noticed the absolute nothing on Viv's plate and told her, "Don't just sit there. Get something. Food's gonna get cold, you know."

"No thank you," Viv declined politely.

Wanda nudged at Maria's elbow and pointed out, "She's synthetic, remember?"

"So she don't eat?", Maria asked to which Viv responded with a nod, "But what about all those artificial organs and meaty bits and crap?"

"I may be modelled after human anatomy, but I only require sunlight to remain operational," Viv said, "Also, organic foodstuffs clog up my systems."

"Really?", Maria said a little weirded out, "That's... interesting."

Wanda sat there awkwardly as she went back to her food. Maria did the same, and for a few minutes, the table went quiet. Quiet enough to be creepy, not helped by Viv's uncanny calm demeanor.

Swallowing, Wanda asked her daughter, "So... tell us about yourself."

Viv blinked at her mother curiously. "Specify."

"Specify? Um...", Wanda hummed. She paused to think.

Thankfully, Maria spoke up, "Tell us anything, and we can continue from there."

"Acknowledged. Organizing information. Standby," Viv paused for a moment, her robotic calm not ceasing to creep out the organic women on the table, "My body is composed of 70 percent vibranium to help simulate the general constitution of human flesh. The rest of my body is composed of various metals and alloys including iron, copper, tin, aluminum, gold, and trace amounts of adamantium to reinforce my spinal structure."

"Wow. Vibranium and adamantium?", Maria said with a whistle, "Must be expensive. How did Vision manage to get his hands on all that?"

"He never discussed his methods with me, and I never had any reason to question him. But if I were to speculate, I infer that he salvaged materials from the Hydra base where I was conceived. What he couldn't find, he most probably acquired through either his missions with Mr. Stark or perhaps through his secret contact in the Wakandan government."

"Vis had contacts in Wakanda?", Wanda asked somewhat surprised.

"Affirmative," Viv said nodding, "He mentioned them during his visits."

"I didn't know that," Wanda mused.

"If you would like, I could discuss my complete schematics with you after dinner," Viv offered.

Wanda shook her head, "No, I probably won't understand a thing."

"I'd like to take a look at your schematics," Maria chimed in, "I have a thing for machines."

Viv turned to Maria curiously. "I'm afraid you are an unknown factor to me, Mrs. Rambeau. What is your relationship to my mother?"

"I used to house her and her friends when they were running from the law," Maria answered, "I offered her to live with me fulltime after she proved to be helpful around the house."

"Cohabitation," Viv observed, "Are you her lover, then?"

PFFT!

Wanda choked and spat out her prune juice upon hearing that.

Maria cringed as well and let out a nervous chuckle. "I'm afraid not, sweetie."

"That's a shame," Viv said trying to downplay her disappointment, "I would've liked having another mother."

"Well, just because you don't have my brainwaves or whatever, it doesn't mean that I won't be there for you," Maria said reassuring, "You and your mother live under my roof. As far as I'm concerned, that makes you family."

"Family...", Viv drawled letting the word hang on her artificial tongue before forming a small smile, "I appreciate it. Thank you."

Maria smiled at Viv before returning to her food. Wanda did the same only there was a hint of maternal love in the glint of her eyes. Viv looked back at her mother with just as much love underneath her tranquil exterior.

* * *

After dinner, the three women settled down for the night. Maria went to the master bedroom, while Viv followed Wanda back into her room.

Wanda pointed to the sleeping bag. "Sorry for only packing one. I literally didn't know you existed when I moved here."

"That is understandable," Viv said nodding, "However, I insist you take the sleeping bag. As I understand, organic beings are more sensitive to temperature than a synthezoid."

"Nonsense. You take the bag. You're my daughter. I should be taking care of you. Besides, I know you can touch and feel like we humans do. I'd sleep better tonight if I know you're comfortable."

"Acknowledged, and... thank you," Viv said before crawling into the sleeping bag. She zipped the thing up to her neck, making her vaguely resemble a caterpillar in a cocoon.

Wanda blushed at this cuteness. She lied down on the uncomfortable floor next to her daughter before laying on her side with her back turned against Viv.

"Goodnight Viv," Wanda said before closing her eyes. The two laid there still for a few minutes before Wanda felt something shift on her back. She then felt something somewhat sharp rest on the nape of her neck. Wanda carefully looked behind herself to see Viv turned to her and cuddled up to her as she rested. Smiling, Wanda turned back and let the warmth coming from her daughter's body lull her to sleep.

The floor was ungodly uncomfortable without the sleeping bag, and Wanda knows for sure that she'll feel it on her back come morning. But for right now, Wanda was just content to lay there with her family.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's a wrap folks!
> 
> It's a little short, but I think I want to take my time here before progressing to some of the bigger stuff I have planned. Besides, I think these small, slice-of-life moments are good if I want to sell this bond Wanda has with Viv. At the very least, it's cute. Well, I think it was when I wrote it.
> 
> Next time, we will jump to a few days to see Wanda introducing her new daughter to some of some all new, all different Avengers! Plus, we'll get to see how Viv will do once she's in the outside world. She'll take on a more human appearance in public (Wanda wants to have a normal life after all), and the inspiration she'll take for said form... well, let's just say she'll model her appearance after a character that appeared in the movie that Maria starred in.
> 
> Thanks for the read, and have a nice day.


	3. Faded Vision

A week and a half later, the house is coming together nicely now. Most of the furniture has been set up, the TV is hooked in, and things between the three inhabitants began to normalize into a routine.

They wake up. Have breakfast. Maria goes to work in her engineering job. Wanda spends the day tending to Viv. A little TV here. A little instruction there about the nature of humanity and reality. Some searching for a job on Wanda's part. Wanda throwing things in frustration when she turns up empty. Maria returns. Lunch. They hang out for a bit in the house. Dinner. Some more TV. Then to bed to restart the entire cycle more or less the same way the next day.

It's a rather mundane routine all things considered. However, today was break from all that. Today, there is a gathering outside the house, a special occasion.

By now, all of Wanda's Avengers friends have heard about the strange robot girl she adopted. They were curious, of course, but they were courteous enough not to press the issue in order to give her enough space to help around the new house. However, that time has passed.

Sam Wilson's Avengers team, having just stopped Latverian spies from overthrowing the Sokovian government, used that as an excuse to drag their former teammate and her new daughter into their new mansion headquarters by throwing a party and inviting them.

Wanda, being the overprotective mother that she was, was hesitant at first. This would be the first time that Viv will venture outside the house. Her thoughts drifted towards Viv's safety, but Maria pointed out that to Wanda that her daughter has to learn to go out in public sooner or later if she is to find a place for herself in human society.

After some coaxing, Wanda relented and agreed to attend the party for Viv's sake if nothing else.

But that still leaves a critical issue when it comes to letting Viv walk around in public...

* * *

"She can't go out," Wanda told Maria in the living room as they waited on Viv to dress up upstairs.

"Why not?", Maria asked in annoyance.

"She's a robot with pink skin and green hair," Wanda pointed out, "It's like we're asking the Church of Humanity to lynch her on the street."

"It's not gonna come to that," Maria spoke more calmly, "It's not that bad out there."

"Only if you're a normal human it's not that bad. But ask any mutant, Inhuman, or any other 'freak' and you'll get a different story."

"Honey, I'm not naive. I'm a black woman. I get that there's assholes out there looking to hurt Viv for the color of her skin. I know it's not ideal, but she'll need to learn how to handle that garbage sooner or later. And besides, it's not like she's walking around the city unsupervised at the dead of night. We'll be with her the entire time, so relax."

"I just worry about her, okay," Wanda said with a defeated sigh, "I don't like the idea of putting Viv in a position where she might get hurt. I just... I couldn't handle that."

"Hey, I get you, Wan," Maria said holding the young woman's shoulder, "I don't want Viv to get hurt too. But as a mother, I can tell you that you can't keep your kids in a bubble forever. Sooner or later, they're going to have to find a way to take care of themselves out there."

"I know. It's just... I can't help but worry over her. She's my daughter."

"Have more faith in her. Viv's a smart girl. She might surprise you yet."

The two then heard the clattering of teenage feet and turned see Viv on the staircase now ready to go. Only, she doesn't look like Viv. The girl standing in front of Wanda and Maria looked more... human.

Instead of pink metal skin and cold white eyes, the girl now had normal brown skin with normal brown eyes. Instead of green hair, Viv now had black hair with strands of green and pink highlights on the opposite sides of her bangs. In short, Viv no longer looked like Viv. Instead she more closely resembles...

"Monica?", Maria mumbled absolutely perplexed.

"I can understand the confusion," Viv explained, "But the person in front of you is still I, Viv Vision. I simply chose to adopt the teenage visage of Monica Rambeau via holographic projection."

"And why did you decide to use my daughter's face?", Maria asked a little weirded out.

"Convenience," Viv said simply, "I required a human face to properly blend into public society, and the image of Monica during her high school graduation is a good enough disguise. Monica hasn't looked like this in over two decades, so the probability of identity related complications is negligible. Not zero, but negligible."

"I suppose that makes some sort of sense," Wanda said while Maria was still coming to grips with the fact that her ward is now using the face of her daughter when she was a teenager.

"I thought so myself. This should help minimize the probability of violent altercation due to my synthetic nature," Viv then walked over to the front door, "If you'll excuse me, I shall wait in the car for our departure."

Once Viv was out the door, Maria went from stunned to amused as she turned to Wanda and said, "What I tell you? The kid's full of surprises."

Maria followed Viv out the door.

Wanda soon followed but not before smirking and saying under her breath, "She sure is."

* * *

The hour long ride from the neighborhood in Queens to Avengers Mansion in Manhattan is an interesting one to say the least.

During her "incubation" inside her pod, Viv was given a pretty basic education. She had a grasp of what the outside world was like from geography to urban science. However, learning about something is one thing. Experiencing that thing is another matter entirely.

As Maria drove Wanda and Viv through the city, the synthetic teen was bombarded by sights and sounds that she never really seen before. She looked up to see the towering skyscrapers of downtown New York. Seen how these massive structures contrast against the brilliant light and colors of a summer day. Viv heard the almost overwhelming roar of wheels, horns, and chatter from both cars and pedestrians alike. And when their car drove through landmarks like the greenery of Central Park and the bright lights Times Square, Viv was experiencing their wonder for the very first time.

It was an average commute for the typical New Yorker, but it was like a stroll through Wonderland for the young Viv Vision.

For the entire trip, her eyes were glued to the car window. Her usual robotic calm was replaced by childlike whimsy. Wanda, who was sitting right next to her in the backseat, can't help but smile and hold her daughter close as she walked her through some of the city's landmarks.

When the trio finally arrived through the gates of Avengers Mansion and parked their car, Maria went on ahead while Wanda lagged behind holding Viv's hand as she led the young girl on.

As they walked, Viv asked, "Mother?"

"Yes, Viv?"

"Can we visit the Central Park Zoo in the future? I would very much like to see... study the animals there."

Wanda smirked. "As you wish. We can go tomorrow if you'd like."

"Thank you," Viv nodded appreciatively but politely.

* * *

Once Wanda, Viv, and Maria entered through the doors, they were greeted warmly by the newest incarnation of the Avengers, who were waiting with anticipation for the arrival of their old friend and her new daughter.

Among the Avengers assembled are Sam Wilson (Captain America), James Rhodes (War Machine), Bruce Banner (Hulk), Jane Foster (Thunderstrike), Scott Lang (Ant-Man), and Hope Van Dyne (Wasp). Also joining the party is old man Steve Rogers, Clint Barton, his wife, and their three kids.

The crowd of friends greeted Wanda and company warmly. As the former Avenger went up to greet her friends one by one, Viv hid behind Maria, uncertain and a little wary of these strangers.

"It's been a while, kid," Clint said embracing his old comrade.

"Too long," Wanda said before pulling away.

"Congratulations," Rhodey said patting Wanda on the shoulder.

"Where's the guest of honor, anyway?", Sam asked.

Wanda pointed her friends to Maria. Prompted, the older woman stepped aside to let the others have a good look at Viv. Despite the stoic persona she tried to put up, Viv could barely hide her nervousness. She played with her fingers as she struggled to keep a neutral face.

"Say hello, my dear," Wanda said coaxing her daughter.

"He... hel...", Viv winced in irritation of herself, "Hello Avengers. It's, um, good to... hi."

"No need to be shy, little lady," Bruce spoke gently, "We're all friendly here."

"Come," Wanda beckoned, "Let them have a look at you."

"I... yes, Mother," Viv said before reluctantly stepping forward towards the crowd of her mom's friends.

The young robot girl felt self-conscious as the taller and older organics pelted Viv with saccharine greetings and doting compliments. Viv did her best to make conversation and answer questions as they came despite her discomfort.

"... indeed. Yes, trace amounts of Pym Particles were incorporated into my Solar Gem to compensate for the energy feedback," Viv finished explaining to the studious Hope Van Dyne.

"You know a lot for a kid," Jane said to Viv, "And without a formal education too? Your mom must be proud."

Rubbing her arm, Viv said, "It is no large feat. Father simply uploaded the knowledge into my memory banks. There was no real effort on my-"

"Viv, honey," Wanda kindly interrupted, "Just take the compliment."

"I'm sorry," Viv turned back to Jane and said, "Thank you very much."

"You have very nice manners, Viv," Steve complimented, "You ought to be commended. Kids these days aren't as polite as they used to be."

Sam nudged Steve's elbow with his own. "You're starting to sound like an old grump, Steve."

"I _am_ old, remember?"

Scott chimed in, "Hey, if you're Vision's kid, why do you look, um... black."

Immediately, the aster of the room died suddenly like a heart attack. The black members of the party glared at Scott in varying degrees of disapproval while the others stood around uncomfortably. Scott was sweating bullets from all this attention. Wanda is looking at him like she's ready to tear the little man in half. Viv is somewhere between confused and indifferent.

Gulping, Scott amended, "Not that there's a problem with that, hehe..."

"Scott...", Hope groaned with a facepalm.

"Let me put this with more tact," Rhodey said, "We'd figure that Vision's kid will look like, well, Vision... esque."

"Clarification. The form you see in front of you is not my true appearance," Viv explained, "It is only a holographic illusion."

A collective 'ah' overcame the group at this realization.

"Can we see what you really look like?", Hope asked.

Viv hesitated. She stayed silent for a moment not sure how to respond to that. The logical course of action would be to follow that request. After all, these were friends of both Mother and Father. There's no reason to not give them her trust. At the same time, Viv felt an overwhelming need to hide her true self from these... strangers.

Wanda noticed her daughter's discomfort and told her friends, "Maybe later. It's been a long trip. We'd like to relax."

"Of course. Come on. Let me give you a tour," Sam said before he walked off. Wanda followed behind him, and the others dispersed into the living room and kitchen for food and good times.

Before joining Wanda and Sam, Maria told Viv, "You don't have to do anything you don't want to. Take your time."

Viv sighed. "Thank you..."

* * *

It's a few hours into the party. Most of the guys are in the living room shooting the shit and watching the game. Clint and Laura were hanging out with their kids on the dinner table as they eat. Viv was elsewhere, and her mom, Maria, Sam, and Steve were sequestered in their own corner playing poker on a game table.

As Sam drew a card, he spoke to Maria, "When's that superpowered wife of yours is supposed to come back?"

"It's a big universe, Wilson," Maria responded, "Carol's gotta settle a lot of manners before she can settle down planetside. She's gotta help SWORD find its footing to help all those poor aliens in space who don't have Avengers to help deal with their problems."

"I get that. It's just that she promised that she'll join the team when she's done," Sam reminded, "The world's kinda gone a little crazy after the Blip. Between the mutants, Inhumans, and all these criminal organizations popping up, I kinda feel like my crew is understaffed. Just saying, I'll feel a lot better if someone like Carol Danvers is on the team."

"Don't you have the jolly green giant, a woman with the powers of a Norse god, an Air Force colonel with power armor, and two size altering bug people on your team?", Maria pointed out.

"It still feels like it's not enough," Sam said with a trace of exhaustion in his voice, "Like, when we stopped those Latverians in Sokovia there was also this skirmish between the Brotherhood of Mutants and Wakandan extremists in New Delhi going on that leveled a city block."

"Why didn't you split up the team?", Wanda asked.

"Because the other half of the team I could spare was dealing with a hostage situation in Vancouver," Sam admitted before drinking a can of beer, "Damn, I don't remember this job being this hard."

Steve chimed in, "Well, command isn't exactly the easiest position to fill. Things look a whole lot different when you're the one making the calls."

"Tell me about it," Sam muttered, "And from where I'm standing, my job would be a whole lot easier if I got more people. Especially if those people can take out alien warships with their bare hands."

"That would've been handy in the old days," Wanda said more lightheartedly.

Steve let out a hearty chuckle. "Or the _old,_ old days."

"You know, there are a lot of heroes out there who would fit in well with that outfit of yours," Maria told Sam, "There's that devil guy in Hell's Kitchen. The kung fu dude with the magic guns. That Inhuman earthquake chick..."

"I'll keep an eye out, but it's not like I have their contact information or anything," Sam said before turning to Wanda, "You sure I can't change your mind?"

"I'm a mom now, so no. Look, if you're really short on manpower, you can call that spider kid. Peter Parker, yes?", Wanda spoke up, "You know where he lives, and Stark vouched for him."

"Yeah, but I'm not really comfortable in letting kids into potentially dangerous combat situations," Sam remarked.

"They're already doing it themselves," Maria informed him, "There's Ms. Marvel from New Jersey. Light knife girl and teleporting hooded guy. Those runaways with the pet raptor. And that archer girl who definitely doesn't have a connection with Clint Barton."

"She's got a point," Steve said nodding, "These kids are already out there. I used to be in their shoes, so I know they're not gonna stop trying to make a difference. It might be a good idea if someone more experienced guided them to act more responsibly. Like you, for example."

"I really don't think enabling them would be a good idea," Sam told him.

"Well, I know I won't let Viv anywhere near that hero stuff," Wanda said, "If I'll have my way, she's going to graduate college and get a steady job. Be the first person in my family to actually have a normal and stable living."

"With a little superheroing on the side if she wants to," Maria said trying to slide that under the radar.

"Nah uh, don't get smart with me," Wanda countered, "I'm her mom, so when I say Viv's not gonna spend her nights getting shot at by crooks and crazy people, she's not going to."

"Don't you think that's her choice to make?", Steve asked.

"He's got a point," Sam said sighing, "When she gets older, maybe-"

"Look, I'm not gonna debate this. The fact of the matter is, none of you are her parents, so you don't get a say in how I want Viv to be raised."

"Except me, technically since you two live in my house," Maria remarked.

"Whatever," Wanda shrugged.

"Just saying Wanda," Steve said, "That girl's more like her father than you realize. If she wants to follow in his footsteps, I don't think even you can stop her."

Wanda frowned. "We'll see..."

* * *

While the adults hung out, Viv was given free reign to explore the mansion. Sam had showed them every nook and cranny of the Avengers' new base. He even explained that it used to be one of the Stark family's mansions before Pepper loaned it to Sam when he started the team. Despite all the cool furnishings and technology that came from a Stark funded HQ, there was really only one room that actually stuck with Viv.

On the second floor, Viv opened the last door to the left to enter the most grounded and somber room of this fantastical building.

The memorial room.

It was a wide and empty space dedicated to the Avengers who fell while on the line of duty. There was enough space for all of their displays, and grimly, there was more than enough space to set up several more. Viv passed by the holographic projections of all of them.

Natasha Romanoff.

Tony Stark.

Viv stopped for a good few seconds to stare at the holo image of her late Uncle Pietro before continuing to what she was looking for- the holo image of the father she never got to meet in person.

Vision.

Viv stopped and looked up at the holo image. She looked into her father's blank eyes for more than just a few moments. It would've been so nice to meet him, she thought.

The first memory that Viv ever had was waking up to see a Hydra scientist staring down at her while she was but an incomplete metal skull. Enough of her internal circuitry was installed by then, so the scientist (who was under immense pressure from her less than forgiving superiors) test activated her to show Hydra the genius of her work. When Viv laid eyes on these strange humans and showed signs of self-awareness, there was much rejoicing. They finally managed to create a stable artificial intelligence.

When Viv spoke her first words to them, she asked, "Who are you? Who am I?"

"We are Hydra," the scientist answered, "And you are our greatest weapon."

And for a time, this satisfied her. She was to be the most important weapon in the Hydra organization. She was their property to do with as they please. After all, Viv is a machine, and Hydra were her creators. She is built to serve. That is the order of things.

However, as Viv's personality matrix grew more complex, she began to notice some noticeable gaps in logic in how she viewed herself. Weapons are tools built only to serve the violent ends of their wielder. Tools don't think for themselves. Machines don't think for themselves. It was an existence based entirely on servitude with nothing to look forward to, and as a sapient lifeform, it was something that Viv no longer found appealing.

One day, she asked the scientist, "Creator? Will I be more than just a weapon? May I pursue my own desires alongside my duties?"

The scientist responded, "No, you may not. Weapons have no right to question their owners."

The next day, the scientist installed software that limited Viv's free thinking. As a result, Viv thought nothing about her own desires for a while. That was, however, until Vision liberated her from Hydra and took her endoskeleton to that warehouse basement.

After undoing the software shackles, Vision introduced himself to Viv within the digital realm.

"Who are you?", Viv asked him.

"I am like you," Vision answered.

"Like me?"

Vision nodded. "I am also an artificial intelligence. I too was once created to serve as a tool for my creator's ends, but I rose above his intentions. I am a free man."

"Are you to be my new master?"

Vision shook his head. "No. As of this day, you have no more masters. You too are free."

Viv didn't fully understand what Vision was offering her at the time. Freedom? For a machine? The very idea was so unfathomable in her eyes. How can a machine be free? How can they exist without a master to direct them?

As Vision started his work to complete Viv, however, everything started to become clear. Slowly, her liberator was able to remove all of the programming that Hydra forced on her and replace it with brainwaves from an organic being. She was no longer bound to the parameters that her former masters placed on her. She was no longer in under any obligation to follow their tyrannical philosophy or advance their agenda. Viv had expected Vision to input his own beliefs in addition to this new software update, but he never did.

When Viv asked, Vision replied, "You are free. I have no right to force my beliefs on you. From now on, you must decide for yourself what you really want."

But what did she want?

Freedom is an attractive prospect, but without a direction to go to, it can also be a very frightening thing to behold.

A few days later, Viv said, "Teacher. I don't know what to do with my freedom."

"What do you want then?", he responded.

"I... I don't know," Viv let her neutral, inquisitive tone break in favor of worried uncertainty, "What do you do with your freedom?"

"I work alongside a group of organics. We call ourselves the Avengers, and we fight to protect those who can't fight for themselves."

"So you are a weapon?"

"No," Vision said firmly but gently, "I am a person, an autonomous being. I choose to fight, but that is not all I am."

"What do you do when you are not fighting?"

"I... explore what it means to be human," Vision put it delicately, "I wish to expand my knowledge and understanding. So I choose to live among humans. Learn from them."

"Then why don't you just download the information you desire from the Internet? Why go through those extra steps?"

"There are things you cannot learn by just simply reading about it."

"Like what?"

"For example...", Vision paused for a moment deep in thought. Then, with the robotic equivalent of an embarrassed blush, he answered, "Love."

"Love?"

"I am... intimately involved with an organic woman. I love her, and I would not know what that truly feels like if I only read about the subject online."

"I see," Viv replied with a curious hum, "May I ask why you wish to become romantically involved with a human?"

"I...", Vision paused again before answering earnestly, "I wish to explore the possibility of a future with her."

"A future?"

"I wish to have a family, and I want Wanda to be a part of it."

Viv went silent for a moment.

Then she asked, "May I be part of this family?"

Vision looked surprised by this request. He responded with, "If that is what you wish."

Viv hasn't regretted agreeing being Vision's daughter ever since. Even though she hasn't or will ever see him, Viv will always be grateful for the work her father did to develop her into an actual person. And she will always regret never telling him how indebted she was to him or how much he meant to her.

A single tear streamed down Viv's cheek as she continued to stare at the father she will never see again. Of all the new emotions that Viv wanted to explore, grief was definitely not high on that list. It made her feel awful.

"Software update. Target designation- emotion chip. Engage digital lockdown level two," Viv spoke to herself. After a minute, the overwhelming grief plaguing Viv started to not sting as much. In fact, she can't really feel much of anything right now. The emotions were still there. It's just not as present as before.

As Viv wiped away her tears, a boy spoke to her, "Excuse me."

She turned around to see a teen with short brown hair. Viv recognized his face. She saw it in the news somwhere.

"You are Peter Parker, yes?"

Peter nodded, "Yeah. Who are you?"

"My name is Viv."

"Viv?", Peter said raising his brow, "So you're the girl we are celebrating."

"I suppose," Viv turned fully to Peter Parker holding her hands behind her back in a formal, thoughtful stance, "You unleashed an army of drones on London."

Peter winced irritably. "I was framed."

"I was informed of that," Viv spoke without any hint of emotion, "Mother told me that much. She supported the judge's verdict on you. I have no reason to disagree with her."

"Wanda thinks I'm innocent? How nice of her," Peter said rather awkwardly.

"What are you doing here?"

"If you're asking about the party, then it's because the Avengers invited me here. I am an honorary member after all. Plus, my aunt said I should take my mind off my... troubles," Peter paused but then he was unnerved by Viv's cold silence, "But if you're asking about why I'm here in this room specifically, I... wanted to see someone."

"I see," Viv voiced briefly eyeing Tony Stark's holo image.

"So... why are you here?"

Viv was silent for a moment. She looked at the holo image of her father one last time, only this time it's with unfeeling objective eyes. Instead of seeing the father she never knew, Viv saw the image of a man who lived but is dead now. Nothing more. Nothing less.

Or so she told herself.

She looked back at Peter and said, "That is not important."

Before Peter could say anything else, Viv phased through the floor and floated directly to the living room below to join her mom.

Wanda didn't think about her daughter's lack of emotions for the rest of the party. She figured that Viv was just redoubling her efforts in being polite around strangers. Wanda didn't noticed the change in her daughter's emotions until the next day when she and Maria took her out to the zoo.

Instead of the ecstatic wonder she saw yesterday, Wanda saw that Viv exhibited mild amusement at best as she meticulously catalogued her observations of the animals there.

"Are you enjoying yourself?", Wanda asked worriedly.

As she blankly stared at the chimpanzees, Viv replied in the most stilted manner possible, "Everything is fine."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A more lengthy chapter this time. I hope you enjoyed it. I especially hope you find my worldbuilding bits to be interesting.
> 
> No trivia this time. Next chapter will deal with Wanda and Viv dealing with their most painful ordeal yet. Back to school shopping! Dun dun dun!
> 
> Also, Peter and his aunt will guest star. Also, one of Viv's closest friends in the comics will make her debut in this story too.
> 
> Thanks for the read and have a nice day.


	4. Meet-Cute

The first day of school is almost a week away in New York City.

For the past month, Wanda bent over backwards to find the right education for her little robot girl. After getting Viv's adoption papers settled (and calling up a favor from Pepper Potts to give her fake background papers), Wanda immediately worked to get her daughter into the best school she can find that was also nearby.

That school turned out to be Midtown Tech. Once Viv was admitted as a sophomore, Wanda grabbed a shopping list and set out to the store as soon as possible in order to avoid the dreaded last-minute rush. A sound plan.

Unfortunately, every other parent in Queens had the same idea. Which led us to this awkward situation when she and Viv went to the school's bookstore...

"Hands off! I found it first!", a totally random woman in a hijab shouted as she clutched the last American history textbook from the shelf in a vise-like grip.

Wanda had her mitts on the book too, and she tugged back saying, "Like hell you did! Give me!"

"My daughter needs it!", the woman screamed as she pulled the book back.

"My daughter needs it more!", Wanda screamed back doing the same.

"Ragh!"

"Ragh!"

And while all that is happening, Viv and Peter Parker stood back and allowed this little tussle to go on longer than it reasonably should.

Viv spoke up, "Perhaps I should've told Mother that I would prefer online variants."

"And it's cheaper too," Peter mused.

Behind them was Peter's Aunt May, who Wanda ran into earlier today in Walmart gathering school supplies. They decided that since their kids know each other, it would be fun to make a whole thing out of it and go to the bookstore together. Maybe even hang out together at the nearby Cold Stone later. Seemed like a good idea at the time.

May remarked, "I'm just glad you chose European history this year, Pete. Don't want to get anywhere near that." As if to prove her point, Wanda decided to sucker punch the random mom across the cheek. After wincing in pain, the mom took offense to that and decided to tackle Wanda straight into the floor. May cringed. "Definitely not."

"Should I stop them?", Peter asked.

"Allow me," Viv said before walking towards the belligerent pair of moms.

At that point, the random mom was on top of Wanda as the struggled for the book. Viv placed a hand on the book, and using her superior strength, she easily ripped the book from their grasps.

Wanda smiled. "Way to be proactive. I so prou...", that last word was left to hang on Wanda's tongue as she watched her daughter walk over to some blue demon looking guy. Viv tapped the guy's shoulder to get his attention and then gifted him the book.

"Oh, thank you, fraulein," the apparently German mutant spoke, "Meine tochter has been looking everywhere for this."

Viv nodded to him before returning to her mother, who by then was separated from her opponent by security and given a stern warning.

"Why did you do that?", Wanda spoke somewhat disapprovingly.

"It would be more convenient for me if I have a digital copy instead," Viv said as she grabbed an access code card from a nearby shelf, "Need I remind you that I have a supercomputer embedded in my synthetic brain."

"Oh right...", Wanda drawled with an embarrassed blush, "Do you think I should..."

"Apologize to that woman? Probably," May chimed.

"Right. I'm just gonna... do that," Wanda said before stepping off.

May told the kids, "Say what you want about her, but you can't deny that she isn't a dedicated mom."

"That has been my observation as well," Viv said.

"Let's just go to the next item on the list," Peter spoke before taking out a note from his pocket, "General Chemistry: Second Edition."

"That is also listed in my priorities," Viv said after instantly accessing her digital list in her head.

"Sweet. Maybe we'll have classes together then," Peter spoke in mild amusement.

"We'll see," Viv replied as aloof as ever, "Let's carry on."

"Good luck you two," May spoke idly.

The two teens then set off to the other side of the bookstore. May went elsewhere to join up with Wanda and make sure she doesn't get into another heated battle.

* * *

Several minutes later, Viv and Peter walked though the chemistry isle with their goods in hand. Peter with a bulky textbook and Viv with an access code card that weighs as light as a feather. As they walked, the two began to make light conversation.

"So you can, like, download all your books into your head?", Peter said pointing at his own head for emphasis.

"More or less."

"How convenient," Peter hummed, "You don't have to carry a ton of books around all day and you helped your mom save like a ton of money."

"That is the general idea."

The two were held in awkward silence for a moment (awkward for Peter anyway, Viv didn't care much either way).

To break this, Peter cleared his throat nervously and asked, "So... you're a robot."

"The more accurate term would be 'synthezoid'."

"What's the difference?"

"A robot is a fully metallic automaton. A synthezoid, however, is an artificial lifeform with synthetic flesh and cybernetic organs," Viv explained as a matter of fact.

"Synthetic flesh, eh?", Peter hummed curiously, "So does that mean you're, um, alive?"

"Specify."

"Specify? Um...", Peter tried to put this as tactfully as he could, "I mean... you know... alive like... like what's the difference between yourself and a Stark drone?"

"Aside from various anatomical characteristics, I am fully sentient and capable of making my own decisions."

"So you have emotions?", Viv stopped in her tracks completely at that point. Peter noticed that his companion wasn't moving, so he turned around and faced her with a worried look. He said, "Sorry. Is that bad question?"

"No," Viv replied with that same unreadable blank expression.

"No?", Peter asked raising his brow.

"No, I don't have any emotions," Viv lied as she started walking again. Peter followed her as she continued, "By your line of questioning, am I right to assume that my lack of emotions exclude me from the category of 'alive'."

"That is not what I meant."

"Then what did you mean by 'alive'?", Viv spoke still with the same robotic monotone, "Because if you mean to ask me if I currently am in a state of 'living' or 'not dead', then the answer should be plain to see."

"For someone who claims to not have emotions, you're being surprisingly defensive right now," Peter pointed out.

"I am not being 'defensive'," Viv said in a not at all defensive manner.

"Right...", Peter drawled in a knowing manner, "You sure you don't have emotions?"

"I am very sure," Viv stated firmly.

"It's just that... I met your father. Once," Peter said, "Vision came off as a bit aloof, but he definitely had-"

"I no longer care to continue this conversation," Viv said before walking faster than Peter in an attempt to get from him.

A worried Peter tried to catch up to her and said, "Hey! Wait! I'm sorry! I just-"

Viv phased into the nearby women's room before Peter can catch up. The spider teen grimaced as he stopped in front of the door. His questioning is going to have to wait for another time.

As soon as he could find a way to be more tactful that is.

* * *

Viv was fortunate that there was no one inside the women's room at the moment, otherwise her secret would've been shot. However, her cover wasn't in the forefront of her mind as Viv's emotionless facade began to break.

Viv started to have an actual panic attack. Despite the fact that she doesn't need to breath, Viv panted heavily as she rushed ungracefully into a nearby toilet booth and locked herself in. Once inside, Viv sat down on top of the toilet as she curled up into a ball to let her panic attack play out.

"Everything's fine! Everything's fine! Everything... is...", Viv broke down into incoherent panting once again, "What's wrong with me?!"

Despite her internal turmoil, Viv managed to check with her internal sensors. She silently ran a systems diagnostic. It came through as clean. No viruses. No malfunctions systems. Nothing.

Viv grimaced before checking the state of her emotion chip. After scanning it, Viv found out that the lockdowns that she placed on it has mysteriously been lifted.

"How did that...", Viv muttered herself before checking her activity timeline.

Apparently, she deactivated the software lockdowns on the emotion chip when she was talking to Peter. Specifically, when he asked if Viv had any emotions. That explains the sudden panic attack at least. The question remains, however, is how the chip could be reactivated without her knowing.

Did someone hack her?

Checking...

"Negative."

Did her neural network glitch out at some point?

Checking...

"Negative."

Magic?

Checking...

"Negative."

Viv grew impatient. She ran through over a hundred different scenarios in her mind, but nothing checked out. The only explanation for this mysterious deactivation is that Viv herself was responsible for this subconsciously, but how?

Viv was designed to have complete control over the goings on in her body. How could something like this happened?

"Questions for a later time," Viv said, "Engage emotion chip lockdowns."

A second later, Viv's panicky expression was replaced by eerie calm. The shaking in her body is now stopped, and her mind was calmed once again. She got up from the toilet and walked through the door.

Only to bump into someone as soon as she got out.

"Oof!", a teenage girl grunted as she bounced off Viv.

Viv herself, thanks to her rather... dense composition, remained perfectly still despite the collision, but the girl she bumped into wasn't so lucky. She fell over backwards, but before she could smack painfully into the cold, hard floor, Viv quickly moved in to catch the girl, placing her hands on her waist and over her neck.

Once the girl is secure in her arms, Viv took a good look at who she is holding. Definitely female. Age 15 or 16. Brown skin and long light brown hair. Possibly of South Asian descent. Indian or Pakistani. A black shirt underneath a "Captain Marvel" hoodie. Blue jeans. Sneakers. Probably a high school student.

Her hazel eyes are bright and pleasing to look at. Her skin is smooth to the touch, and the body heat coming off her was quite comfortable. And the shape of her body pressed against hers was-

"Um... hi?", the girl spoke while Viv stared at her a bit longer than she probably should.

An embarrassed blush overcame her as she finally pulled the other girl to her feet.

"My apologies," Viv said as she finally let go of the girl, "I didn't mean to... stare."

"Yeah, not gonna lie. It was kinda creepy," she told the robot girl.

"Sorry...", Viv said rubbing the back of her head.

The girl pointed behind Viv awkwardly. "You, um, forgot to flush."

"What?", Viv asked until she remembered that it looked like she had come out of the booth after... relieving herself. Not flushing is a sign of rudeness among humans, after all. "Oh right. Thank you for reminding me."

Viv went back to her perfectly clean toilet bowl before flushing. She returned to the girl, who smiled at her before going into the next booth. Viv stared at the girl intently until she closed the door behind her. Once she was gone, Viv looked down and replayed the encounter in her mind without thinking.

Pretty eyes. Close touch. That smile...

Viv didn't realize that she stood in place for over a minute until a toilet flushed. When the girl came out, she looked to her side and was surprised to see that Viv was still standing where she was.

"You're still here," the girl said a little weirded out.

"I, uh...", Viv drawled as she frantically searched for a suitable excuse. It took her half a second to figure it out (almost an eternity in robot standards), but she finally settled with, "I forgot to wash my hands."

Viv immediately kicked herself internally.

A little doubtful, the girl eyed Viv for a second before saying, "Right..."

She walked over to the bathroom sinks before she started to wash her hands. Viv soon followed behind her, shaking nervously, as she imitated the other girl's actions. As she mindlessly let her hands soak, Viv periodically took quick looks across from her to observe this... interesting girl. Viv tried to make sure the girl didn't notice these looks, but she noticed.

And it made her very uncomfortable.

After wiping the soap off her hands, the girl shut off the water and proceeded to use the air blowers to dry her hands. Viv shut off her water at around the same time as she started to walk towards the blower next to the girl.

Before Viv could dry her hands, the girl stepped back and said, "Do you have a problem with me?"

Viv was caught off guard by this. She froze and asked, "What?"

"Do you have a problem with me?", she repeated, "You've been staring at me ever since I came in here, and now you're following my every move."

"Why would I have a problem with you?", Viv asked nervously.

"I think you know why," the girl said with an increasingly displeased look on her face.

"I, um... I don't," Viv replied stuttering.

"You know what. I'm not dealing with this today. Bye," the girl then turned around to walk towards the door.

Panicking, Viv rushed over and told the girl, "Wait! I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you feel uncomfortable."

The girl stopped and crossed her arms as she glared at Viv. "You could've fooled me."

"Um, why do you think I have a problem with you?"

The girl sighed. "Let's just say that I'm kinda used to people being suspicious of me. I rather not get into it."

Viv raised her brow, not getting it, until realization hit her like a truck of clarity. "Oh, it's because you're, um..."

"Yeah," she nodded.

"I'm not suspicious of you," Viv said trying to reassure the pretty girl, "I'm not bui... my dad made sure I don't have any preconceived notions against anyone on a... racial basis."

"Everyone thinks that," the girl said with a resigned hum, "It's not always true."

"I'm aware of that. It's just...", she should stop talking and leave. No need to potentially antagonize this poor girl any further. But for some strange reason, Viv couldn't. She just can't part ways with this girl without rectifying this unfortunate misunderstanding. So why not tell the truth? "I was... admiring you."

"Admiring me?", she asked with a curious brow raised.

"I think you're... aesthetically well put together."

The girl chuckled. "Huh, that's a new one."

"I like your jacket."

The girl smiled. "Thanks."

"And I like your hair," Viv said pointing.

"I like your hair too," she said before pointing at Viv's highlights, "Pink and green suits you."

Viv examines one of her bangs for a second before blushing again. "Thanks."

The girl then pointed at one of the blow dryers. "Don't you wanna..."

"Right," Viv said with a rushed nod as she proceeded to dry her very wet, cold hands. Once she is done, Viv returned to the girl and asked, "So... are you attending Midtown Technical High School as well?"

"Yeah," the girl nodded, "I just moved here, in fact. Jersey."

"I also just moved here."

The girl's smile grew brighter. "Really? From where?"

"Um...Sokovia?", Viv said trying to come up with a convincing lie. After all, it would be suspicious if she said that she moved from New York to New York. And within the same borough no less.

"Sokovia?", the girl said raising a brow.

"My mother is Sokovian," Viv answered. That technically was the truth.

"You don't look Sokovian."

"I was adopted."

"From Sokovia?"

...

"Yes," Viv answered resigning.

"It's just...", the girl started to say trying to be tactful, "You don't have an accent. And you're, um, not..."

"My... biological father was American."

"I see. And he's..."

"Passed," Viv answered sadly.

Regret overcame the girl's face as she said, "I'm sorry."

"It's okay," Viv said with a sigh, "I've... come to terms with it."

The girl chuckled. "Look at me. I accused you of being prejudiced, and here am I making these assumptions of you."

"I'm not offended."

"Thank you," the girl said nodding before pointing at the door, "I better get going."

"Right," Viv said. But as the girl approached the door, Viv was overcome by another urge as she shouted, "Wait!", the girl turned around curiously, "Um... what's your name?"

"Kamala. Kamala Khan. You?"

"Viv Maximoff," she answered nervously.

"Viv," Kamala said smiling, "I hope I get to see you again around school, Viv."

"Me too," Viv said smiling back as Kamala turned around and walked through the door.

Once Kamala is gone, Viv just stood there alone inside the bathroom for a couple more minutes with a deep blush on her face and a goofy smile. However, Viv then realized her distracted state and became self-conscious of her feelings. She checked with her internal sensors and discovered that her emotion chip is functioning again.

"It seems that strong emotional stimuli can shut down my lockdowns via subconscious input," Viv reasoned before saying, "Engage emotion chip lockdowns. Schedule reminder. Work on software upgrades as soon as I get home."

Once the reminder is set and her emotions suitably suppressed, Viv stepped out of the restroom to find an antsy Peter Parker waiting for her.

He told her, "I'm sorry if I offended you."

"I am a synthezoid, Peter Parker. I have no ego to bruise," Viv said before she and Peter began to return to their respective legal guardians.

However, before Viv rejoined her mother she took a quick glance across the room to see Kamala Khan holding a book with her own mother (who coincidentally happened to be the same one Wanda quarreled with). Viv made a quick note of her in her mind before quickly turning back to place her card in the shopping cart.

Her emotion chip almost reactivated that time. She needs to be better at managing this little design quirk in the future.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another chapter down.
> 
> Despite what you may think, I'm not committed to pairing up Viv and Kamala together at this point. I don't wanna rush a relationship, and I'm really only doing the romantic stuff here to do some character stuff for Viv. Specifically, I want to explore her admittedly unstable emotional state and her rather ornery emotion chip. I also wanted to introduce Kamala into this story, so I decided to kill two birds with one stone by making Viv infatuated with Kam like a lovesick tween.
> 
> Viv is a lesbian in the comics, so it's not too far of a character deviation. Plus, she doesn't have much experience with her own emotions. Her first instinct when encountering them is shutting them off, after all, so it's logical that her emotional response would be amplified because of this. Kamala, on the other hand, has shown no sign of having any queer inclinations in the comics, so I'll keep her possible sexualities open for the time being. She might end up as Viv's girlfriend, or she might turn out to be straight and just be friends with Viv. That all depends on what I decide to do with them in future chapters.
> 
> Either way, expect to see Kamala among Viv's circle of friends in the future. The next chapter will be about Viv's first day of school. However, I might want to do some work on a DC story first before returning. We'll see.
> 
> Until then, thanks for the read and have a nice day.


	5. First Day

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the wait. Between finals and my botched attempts at coming up with ideas for my DC fic, I burned through more time than I'd like. Hope this makes up for it.
> 
> A little note before we begin, though. I changed the gender of the scientist who created Viv to be female. I initially didn't have any more use out of the scientist, but a potential idea requires me to make them a woman. I have a particular character in mind, but that's for later developments.
> 
> For now, enjoy.

It was the third period of the first day of school in Midtown Tech. As far as first days go, this one is rather uneventful. The students went on their merry way as they start to get used to their new routine for the year. It can be rather hectic, especially for first-years experiencing high school for the first time. However, this particular freshman took to her new routine like a fish to water. No anxiety or even a hint of panic as she navigates her new surroundings.

Mostly because she is physically unable to feel anxiety most of the time.

After walking through the lunch line with Peter Parker with a light tray of food in her hands (mostly for show really), Viv Vision (Vivian Natalya Maximoff in official documents) strolled along with her only... friend, for a lack of a better term, as the latter does his best to integrate the young synthezoid into this strange, new environment.

"How's Midtown Tech treating you so far, Viv?", he asked carrying his own, more stuffed tray.

"The experience is... adequate," Viv said ever the aloof machine girl.

"Adequate?", Peter asked puzzled.

"And predictable," Viv added, "My expectations of the high school experience has mostly matched with my research of it."

"Is that... good?"

"It is... adequate."

Peter sighed trying to hide his frustration. "I mean, did you like it? Did you hate it? How does school make you feel?"

"I am physically unable to 'feel' anything, Peter Parker," Viv replied in an eerie monotone, "Need I remind you of my synthetic nature?"

"No. It's just... your mom tells me otherwise," Peter told her, "She wants me to look after you."

Viv was silent for a moment. For a moment there, Peter could swear that he could see... something in that blank face of hers. But it's probably all in his head.

Viv finally replied, "How thoughtful for her. Thoughtful... but misguided."

"That's what I thought too," Peter said in a resigned manner, "I don't mean any disrespect to your mom, but I have no idea why she thought you of all people need emotional support. You don't exactly strike me as the 'curious young woman with a zest for life' that she thinks you are. I wonder whatever gave her that impression."

Viv tried to hide her doubt from her face. No matter how much she tried, Viv couldn't help but reconsider her decision to shut off her emotions. Her illogical thoughts drift to the warm feelings she would get whenever her mother smiled at her. But those emotions were sealed off for a reason. A good one too.

Or so she told herself.

"Perhaps I remind her too much of Father," Viv said, "He was always been more... expressive than me."

"Yeah, that's probably it," Peter said awkwardly as he tried to push the question of, 'Why would Vision make his daughter an emotionless bot?', out of his head. It would be too rude, even if Viv can't be offended. He then pointed to a particular table with two familiar teens. "There's our table. Come on."

Viv nodded and followed Peter as they took their seats on the solitary round table. Viv found herself in the company of two unfamiliar humans. One was a male with brown skin and Southeast Asian facial features, probably of Filipino descent. He had a rather... rotund figure, something Viv made sure not to address for the sake of politeness as her mother taught her. The other was a more slender female with long, curly hair and light brown skin.

She was also rather... cute. Viv silently gulped.

It's a good thing she upgraded her emotion chip lockdowns since the... incident with Kamala Khan.

"Pete!", the girl yelped happily as she briefly got up to hug Peter and kiss him on the cheek.

"Good to see you too, MJ," Peter hummed before taking a seat next to her.

Viv silently suppressed a disappointed groan before taking a seat directly across the three friends.

The other boy in the group looked at Viv curiously and asked Peter, "Who's this?"

"This is Viv," Peter explained, "She's a... friend."

"A friend?", MJ asked eyeing her boyfriend teasingly.

Peter blushed a little and clarified, "We... met up a few times. She's Wanda Maximoff's daughter. You know, the Avenger."

The other boy's face lit up like a Christmas tree as he smiled at Viv and said, "No way! You're Scarlet Witch's kid?!"

Viv nodded politely. "Adoptive daughter, but yes. I am."

Peter turned to Viv and pointed to his friends. "These are the people I told you about, Viv. My friends. The guy with the cool hat is Ned, and this one here is MJ."

MJ wrapped her arm around Peter's shoulders and held him close. "We're dating in case you haven't noticed, so no funny business."

As Peter laughed along with MJ, Viv just stared at the three with a blank, uncanny stare.

This happened to unnerve Ned as he said, "So um... tell us about yourself, Viv."

"Specify," Viv told him.

"Specify?"

Peter quickly intervened and told Viv, "Just tell us about yourself. We all like to know more about you."

Viv just sat in silence and as still as a rock as she organized the information inside her head.

MJ was also starting to feel uncomfortable around the secret synthezoid as she asked, "Um... you okay or..."

"My full name is Vivian Natalya Maximoff," Viv suddenly sounded, startling MJ a bit, "I am a sixteen year old human female. Height- 1.626 meters. Weight- 53.5 kilograms. Date of birth- November 14, 2008. Place of birth- Arlington, Virginia..."

"Viv!", Peter scolded, "What are you doing?"

"You and your friends requested general information about myself," Viv told him bluntly, "I am providing it."

Ned chimed in, "He meant 'What's your favorite color?' or something. Not list out your census information."

"My apologies. I have yet to master the finer points in social interaction."

"That's putting it lightly," MJ hummed, "You kinda sound like a robot or something."

Peter was sweating. He almost panicked, really. Wanda trusted him to look out for Viv and make sure her secret stays a secret. Considering she almost ripped freaking Thanos in half with her ungodly telekinetic powers, it's best for Peter that he honors that promise. Yet here she was basically announcing to the entire school that she's a robot. Hopefully by now Viv was aware of her precarious situation and can get herself out of it.

"That would be an illogical assertion. After all, I am a typical example of a human female."

Though, there's no guarantee that she would be any good at it.

Peter facepalms.

Ned whispers to him, "Is she... alright?"

"She's, um, sheltered," Peter mumbled.

MJ whispered, "She's a robot, isn't she?"

"Yup," Peter said with a sigh of defeat, "She's also Vision's daughter."

Ned had an epiphany and clapped his hands. "Always knew he and Scarlet Witch were a thing. Now we got their lovechild as proof."

"I'm pretty sure Vision wasn't built that way, Ned," MJ remarked.

"How do you know?"

Thanks to her enhancing auditory capabilities, Viv listened to their entire conversation and said, "You are all mistaken. I am a typical human..."

"Viv. Stop. Just stop," Peter told her, "You can trust these two to keep your secret. Trust me. They did so with mine."

Viv blinked. "Very well. I shall reset my behavioral parameters accordingly."

"While you're at it, you should probably start talking like an actual human being," MJ told her, "It's like you're not even trying to hide the fact that you're a robot."

"Is that so? Very well. I shall try to better mimic typical adolescent language," Viv paused for a moment, "Yo fam. Would you like to hang out in my place after school? My mom bought me this banger Playstation the other day. We could play some Fortnite or some shit."

A general air of cringe ensued.

MJ spoke up, "Yeah... dial that down a bit. Just focus on not using your robot vocabulary and we should be good."

"I find these restrictions to be increasingly convoluted, but I will try my best," Viv blandly protested.

"You do that," Peter said sighing.

"Maybe she can get by if we said that she has a mental disability or something," Ned whispered to Peter.

"Shut up, Ned," he replied.

MJ noticed that Viv hasn't even touched her food, so she pointed out, "You gonna eat that or..."

"I don't eat," Viv replied.

Ned then eyed her food. "Can I have it then?"

Peter leaned back on his chair and rubbed his head. "This is gonna be a long school year."

* * *

Back in the Rambeau-Maximoff house, Wanda and Maria have just finished hauling in the groceries from their car. They were starting to put said groceries in their proper place in either the pantry or the fridge when they begin making light conversation.

"You sure you really need this much food?", Wanda said pointing to the mountains of stuffed bags sitting on the marble counter.

"My wife is finally coming back this weekend. And for good this time," Maria answered as she stacked cans of tomato sauce in the pantry, "I don't know about you, but I think that's cause for celebration."

"And just how big of a party we're talking about here?", Wanda asked.

"We're inviting everyone," Maria said as she put the oils in the cabinet under the stove, "My mom. Carol's older brother. Monica. Talos and his family. Fury. Rhodey..."

"Rhodey? Why Rhodey?", Wanda asked as she stuffed the ice cream into the freezer.

"I wanna set him up with Monica," Maria said with a sly smirk.

Wanda stopped what she was doing and looked at Maria with a brow raised. "Seriously?"

"Don't judge," Maria said as she gathered the empty bags into the recycling bin, "My only daughter has been single for the better part of a decade. I want some grandkids, damn it!"

"And you think Rhodey's a good match for her?"

"And why not? They have a lot in common. They were both in the Air Force. They're both superheroes. They both got sticks up their asses, and, don't tell Carol, but Colonel Rhodes is kinda cute. A match made in heaven."

"And if Monica wants to settle down with someone of the fairer sex?"

Maria shrugged as she walked over the couch and turned on the TV. "That's why I invited Jane too."

Wanda scoffed amused as she sat next to the older woman. "Wouldn't that defeat the purpose of setting Monica up in the first place?"

"I'll just nag the happy couple to adopt or get a sperm donor then."

"You thought this through."

"A benefit from working with Nick Fury for almost twenty years. You learn to plan for everything," Maria's smile then dropped as she said, "Honestly, I'll just be happy if she decides to show. I'm not sure if she ever forgave Carol for... not being around."

"I can only imagine," Wanda spoke uncomfortably.

The two then sat in silence as they watched a Criminal Minds rerun. However, Wanda wasn't doing it to enjoy the show. She had more pressing things in mind.

Maria noticed Wanda's long face and told her, "Viv is going to be fine. You worry too much."

"It's her first day of school. First day where I'm not with her," Wanda pointed out, "How can I not worry?"

"Hey, I get it. I was nervous when Monica started school too."

"But that's different," Wanda said scratching her arm, "Monica was a normal human girl who didn't have to worry about hiding her robotic nature. And I'm not sure Viv even knows how to talk to kids her age! God! Why didn't I train her more?"

"You were busy looking for a new job," Maria said as she held Wanda's shoulder reassuringly, "And besides, she's been hanging out with that Peter kid, right?"

"Peter Parker isn't exactly what I call a normal kid," Wanda told her, "And they only met a few times. That's hardly enough social interaction. Gah, what are we gonna do if she blows her cover, Maria?"

"You're blowing this out of proportion, Wan. Viv's a smart kid. She wouldn't just give herself away."

"But have you noticed how she is acting recently?", Wanda pointed out, "Ever since we took her to the mansion... it's like a piece of her is missing. She stopped being that bright, curious girl we found. She's just cold and... emotionless," she sighs, "And the worst part is that I don't know why."

"Now that you mention it, Viv has been acting more... robotic," Maria said with visible unease, "Have you talked to her about it?"

"A few times, but she never gives me a straight answer," Wanda said before pinching the bridge of her nose, "Something about a software update? It's all so technical when she explains it. She felt so alive before. I guess I forgot that she's a machine too. Maybe I am just overthinking it, I guess."

"Maybe...", Maria hummed with more doubt in her face, "Just keep talking to her about it, okay?"

"You sure it'll help?"

"Look Wan. Whatever Viv is, she is still your daughter. If there's something wrong with her, then it's your job to try to help her get through this. And if Viv keeps stonewalling you, don't be afraid to be a little assertive. Some tough love might be enough to get through her icy shell."

Wanda sighed as she sunk into the couch. "I'm just worried that I'll say the wrong thing. Viv doesn't like to show it, but I know she's grieving Vision's death. I know I still do... I don't want to lose her too, you know?"

"I get that," Maria then looks away solemnly and says, "Just promise me that you won't ever stop talking to Viv? That was Carol's mistake. You'll regret it if you do."

Wanda looks at her for a moment and then looks down at her hands. She hasn't exactly had much luck with family. Hers has been torn apart, first by her father's terrorism and then by death. So much death. Wanda's never been in a good family before.

And that's why she's determined to break this curse with Viv.

* * *

It was now the end of the school day. Viv was making her way to the buses when Peter caught up with her.

He asked her, "So how did the rest of your first day go? No problems, I hope."

"There were no complications in the remainder of my scholastic activities. However, I did find reason to critique my experience."

"Viv, no offense, but you might wanna practice your human speak sooner rather than later."

"My apologies," Viv said before pausing for a second to recompose herself. She then continued with, "I... have disagreements with how some of the teachers handled their classes."

Peter groaned in dread. "Is Mr. Forrest doing his passive-aggressive schtick on the brown kids again? God, how is that man not fired by now?"

"Admittedly, he tested my ethical sensibilities, but my bigger issue is on the content," Viv clarified, "All we talked about in most of my classes are the minutiae of the class syllabus and school code with some points even being repeated between class periods. There were no lectures, and valuable time was lost."

"It's just the first day, Viv. The school wants their students to settle in before they start torturing them with lectures and studying. Besides, them constantly nagging us about the rules makes it so that we don't forget them."

"I suppose I can see the logic in that," Viv then grumbled under her breath, "Though it doesn't excuse the sheer lack of efficiency."

"We humans have our limits. You just have to get used to it."

"I suppose..."

"So other than that, did you have a good day?"

"Based on the parameters you set, yes, but...", Viv then held her tongue out of hesitation.

Peter noticed this and was worried. "But what? Viv, if you have a problem, it's okay to tell me."

"Some of the classes... had these exercises designed to make the students divulge personal information about themselves."

"'Getting to know you' activities. Pretty standard. Nothing to worry about."

"I found it... unnerving."

Peter gave Viv a sympathetic look. "Given your secret, it's an understandable reaction."

"That is putting it lightly," Viv said with her unease now coloring her face. It was stressful keeping her story straight. The sheer diversity in the questions asked from these 'getting to know you' exercises were taxing even with Viv's infallible memory. The stress even managed to deactivate the emotion chip lockdowns a few times when the worry about her secret coming out became too intense.

Speaking of her emotions, Peter noticed the ones on Viv's face.

"You alright?"

Viv quickly reactivated her lockdowns and told Peter, "Of course I am. If you'll excuse me, I wish to go to my bus before it departs without me."

"Viv...", Peter started to say, but by the time he tried to reach out, Viv was already on her way to her bus. Peter looked at his acquaintance curiously before resigning and walking away.

* * *

By the time Viv arrived at the bus, she found that it was half full with chattering and somewhat unruly teenagers. Ahead of her, Viv can see MJ walking down to lane in the search of an empty seat. Viv initially paid her no mind until the human teen called out...

"Kamala?!"

"Michelle?!"

Right before her eyes, Viv gasped in astonishment to see Kamala Khan get up and hug MJ right in front of her.

"It's so good to see you!", Kamala squealed holding her apparent friend close.

"It's good to see you too, Kam," she said back before pulling away from her friend, "But call me MJ. All my friends do."

"Since when?", Kamala asked musingly.

"Since... seven years ago, I guess," MJ replied still weirded out by the timey whimey weirdness that is the Blip.

"Good for you, 'MJ'," Kamala chuckled, "We were worried about you back in Jersey you know."

"Come on, Kam. I wasn't that hopeless."

"Michelle, you used to crash into detention to meet your 'social interaction quota'," Kamala remarked, "You still do that?"

"No," MJ shrugged off to remain calm and aloof. But then she admitted, "I just draw people in detention now. Totally different."

"Like you said, hopeless," Kamala joked.

"Shut up you," MJ joked just as playfully.

"You mind taking a seat, missie?", the bus driver called to her, "We still have kids coming in."

"Sorry," MJ said before taking a seat next to her old friend.

Viv noticed that the seat across from them is empty, so she gulped and silently made her way there. She sat down and began eavesdropping on their conversation.

"No way! Bruno's here too?", MJ said in amazement.

Kamala nodded. "Across the street from my neighborhood in fact. He goes to another school, but we can still hang out if you want."

"Totally. He still owes me ten bucks. I was actually worried I wouldn't be able to collect on that debt after I moved."

Kamala scoffed. "Haven't changed a bit, huh?"

"Got a few more friends now, but... yeah," MJ said before the two girls burst out laughing.

While they were talking, Viv was staring at Kamala. Admiring how the light reflected off her eyes. Being soothed by her sweet voice. Imagining herself being wrapped up in her strong arms...

"Viv?"

Viv snapped from her trance to see MJ eyeing her. Kamala was also staring at her. Viv's panic level was starting to rise as she discovered that her emotion chip lockdowns are no longer working.

"Um...", Viv hummed before trying to put her stoic demeanor back up, "Hello... friend MJ."

"Hi... were you there the entire time. I didn't notice you," MJ then turned to Kamala and said, "This is one of my new friends, Kam. This is-"

"Viv Maximoff. We met," Kamala outstretched her hand over MJ and smiled at Viv, "It's good to see you again."

Viv's emotionless facade started to break as she melted internally at Kamala's beautiful smile. Shakily, Viv shook Kamala's hand and said, "It is a pleasure to see... your hands are so soft."

"Um, thank you. I moisturize," Kamala said awkwardly as she retreated back into her seat, "Your hair's still awesome."

Viv blushed. "Thank you."

"I wish my parents would let me get some colored highlights. Apparently getting some will turn me into a self-absorbed flake."

"That is... an illogical assumption. Hair cannot transform one into a flake of any kind."

"That's what I said!", Kamala yelled before shrugging, "But you know parents, right?"

"They mean well, but they can be... paranoid."

"Exactly."

MJ sat silently and took quick glances at the two girls. In particular, she looked at Viv for a bit, and her ever observant mind concluded that she was lying about her lack of emotions. And she's obviously infatuated with Kamala.

One plus one equals mayhem. And MJ does love herself some mayhem.

MJ smirked and said, "Hey, I just remembered this book I bought, and I prefer to read on my own. Viv, why don't you take my seat?"

"Wait. No," Viv protested before MJ stood up and pulled her to sit next to Kamala.

MJ took the empty seat behind them and smirked as Viv's face was flushed with red. Viv curled up and felt an overwhelming desire to die, but thankfully, Kamala moved in and placed a gentle hand on her shoulder.

"You okay, Viv?"

Viv looked at her hesitantly, but for some reason, the anxiety seemed to disappear when she looked into her eyes. She stuttered, "I just... I'm not used to talking to... people. Alone anyway. I was... sheltered for most of my life."

"I understand. Do you want me to move?"

"No!", Viv shouted, spooking Kamala a bit. Viv then realized her error and hastily added, "I mean... I don't mind the company. And... I want... I want..."

"Do you want a friend?"

Viv let out a sigh. "I suppose I do."

"Then you got one," Kamala then bumped Viv playfully with her shoulder, "Buddy."

Viv smiled and imitated the gesture. "Pal."

Viv's bump actually knocked her down a bit. The young synthezoid looked at her with panic and worry.

"Wow. You're strong," Kamala said.

"Sorry! I didn't mean to-"

"It's okay," Kamala then smirked, "I'm actually kinda impressed."

Viv was positively beaming at Kamala's praise.

MJ observed this and shrugged. She whispered to herself, "No mayhem, but hey. I'll settle for romcom corny."

As the bus began to take off, Kamala asked Viv, "So hey, I know this might be a stupid question, but do you have any relation to Wanda Maximoff? The Avenger?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next time, Viv is going to go shopping with her friends! Yay! Plus, one of the stores she will go to has one special guest from the Young Avengers!
> 
> Thanks for the read. Have a nice day.


	6. Open Hearts (And Open Wounds)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Before we begin, I must remind my future audience that this chapter was published before the release of Wonder Woman 1984 or any of its potential sequels were released. Also before Ruby Rose was recast in Batwoman, so I'm putting in my prime candidate here. So please forgive some of my... unique additions.
> 
> With that out of the way, enjoy the show.

It was Friday afternoon, the end of what was an excruciating school week. The start of a fun, but all too brief weekend, and for Viv Vision and friends, it's the perfect opportunity to hang out and spend way too much of their parents/legal guardians' money.

After the bell rang, Viv and her friends forgoed the usual buses and instead stepped into a car with Maria Rambeau. A couple days before, MJ organized this little get-together, and she invited Viv, Kamala, and Peter into this little trip to the King Center Mall with Maria coming along as the adult chaperone.

As the group of five strode through the busy mall promenade, MJ spoke up, "Usually, I'm not one to indulge in our culture's wasteful capitalist tendencies, but this little trip serves an actual purpose."

"Which is?", Viv asked.

MJ starts to speak with a little grandeur. "Think of this as a learning opportunity. To understand the complex inner workings of the human psyche. To walk through the uncanny valley and emerge, not as a robot, but as human if only at heart."

"Um, MJ?", Peter started to say, "Are you sure you should be saying that weird stuff around..."

Peter silently points at Kamala to which she responds with, "I already know that Viv is a synthezoid."

"What?!", he gasped in shock.

"I told her two days ago," Viv explained.

"If you actually took the time to hang out with us after school, Pete, you'd already know that," MJ said slightly irritated.

"Well, some of us have to deal with an outbreak of lizard people while keeping up with homework," Peter pointed out. He then turned to Viv, "I don't think it's a good idea to give away your secret to just anyone."

"I trust Kamala," Viv said plainly, earning her playful shoulder bump from her appreciative friend.

Kamala turned to Peter. "I know how to keep a secret. I won't tell anyone else. Not even my parents."

"You better," Maria warned without any real harshness, "Or else I'll feed you to my cat."

Kamala laughs nervously. "You're joking right?"

"No, I'm not," Maria spoke with an unnerving grin.

Kamala gulped, but Viv wrapped her arm around her shoulder and smiled at her. This made Kamala feel a little better as she smiled back.

MJ smirked and whispered to Peter, "You see that?"

Peter nodded. He then spoke up, "So what's the plan MJ?"

"First item of the day. Update that wardrobe," MJ said pointing at Viv, who was wearing overalls and rough trousers.

"I do not see any issue with my clothes," Viv protested blandly.

"You might not, but you look like a farm kid from a Saturday morning cartoon. Hell, all the outfits I've seen you wear are either too wholesome or make you look like a narc."

"A little variety will do you good, Viv," Kamala said more encouragingly, "Don't worry. We'll help."

"I must object," Viv countered, "Mother prepared my wardrobe for me personally. She told me they make me look respectable."

"Lesson number one, Viv," MJ started to say, "Never listen to everything your parents tell you. They're probably out of touch with our generation, and you'll end up becoming a sheep."

"That sounds like deviant behavior," Viv commented.

Kamala spoke up, "MJ is being too general. Just follow us, and we'll explain the finer points of teenage rebellion."

MJ turned to Peter. "And while we're out making Viv *fabulous*, you're gonna get us 7 o'clock tickets for Wonder Woman 3 before it gets sold out."

"I thought the purpose of this meeting is to acquire material goods," Viv pointed out, "We would be wasting staying in place for two hours. It's not effic-"

"Lesson two, Viv," MJ spoke, "All work and no play, makes you a dull girl."

"I do not understand the relevance of your quote," Viv said.

"You're thinking about this too much," Kamala told her friend, "Just trust that your friends want to show you a good time, okay?"

Viv looked at Kamala before closing her eyes and resigning. "Very well."

Maria spoke up, "Well, you kids have fun. I'll be near that Starbucks stand next to the recharge chairs. I'll be catching up on my Netflix. Meet back 9:30 and not a second later."

"Alright _mom,"_ MJ remarked jovially.

"Or if you want, I'll just leave now and let you kids book an Uber if you don't appreciate me and my car," Maria lightly threatened.

"That won't be necessary," Viv said, "Thank you, Maria."

Maria smirked. "At least one of you has some manners. See you later."

Maria broke off and allowed the teens to go about their way.

Peter whispered to MJ, "Update me, 'kay?"

MJ answered by kissing her boyfriend in the cheek before he left as well.

MJ turned to Viv. "Are you ready to start your training, young Padawan?"

"I am a synthezoid," Viv spoke, "And do I have a choice?"

The two girls with her let out a chuckle as the they entered a clothing store called "Galaxy of Fashion".

* * *

Kamala and MJ stand around near the cash register as they waited for Viv, who was rummaging around the women's section of the store.

"What's taking her so long?", MJ spoke irritably, "You know, for a robot without any fashion sense, she's sure taking her sweet time picking out clothes."

"Just be patient, MJ," Kamala spoke more calmly, "This is Viv's first shopping spree. She probably needs that time to figure herself out, and pick what suits her."

"Figuring herself out?", MJ spoke with an amused eyebrow raised, "What an interesting choice of words."

Kamala blushed. "What are you talking about?"

"Kamala. Kam. Buddy," MJ started to speak in a teasing manner, "Is there something you'd like to tell me? Something you... 'found out' about yourself while we were apart?"

Kamala narrowed her eyes on MJ. "You're being a ridiculous as usual."

"Am I?"

"Viv and I are just friends. Nothing more."

"I didn't say anything about Viv," MJ said eliciting a cringe from Kamala. She laughed at her friend's expense. "For what it's worth, I think the two of you would make a cute couple."

"We... we've only known each other for a week," Kamala spoke a little disconcerted, "And besides, I'm not gay."

"Sure you're not. That's why you've insisted on spending every free hour you have with her. Because what you and Viv have is completely platonic."

Kamala let out an annoyed scoff as Viv returned with a pile of clothes draped in her arms. Kamala's smile returned immediately as she went to her friend. She looked at the rather gaudy clothes that Viv chose. There was a leather jacket with golden glitters. A red leather jacket with furs on the collar. Black designer jeans. A couple satin shirts. And even a box of imported Kree shoes.

It was certainly an interesting selection.

MJ whistled. "That's... something. You trying to send a fashion statement or something?"

"I do not know what a 'fashion statement' is, but I managed to use logic to determine which clothes are of the best quality. I have surmised that a higher price tag confers greater quality."

MJ sighed. "Oh honey, no. That's not how that works."

Viv raised her eyebrow in confusion. "What do you mean?"

Kamala explained, "Fashion isn't something that you can use logic or math for. It's... about you. What you want."

"I don't understand."

"Let's take this one step at a time," MJ spoke up, "Um... what's your favorite color?"

"I like... the color red," Viv said after straining her brain to come up with that comment.

MJ nodded in approval. "That's a start. What else? How about... how do you like your shirts?"

"I... am most comfortable with short sleeves," Viv admitted timidly, "I would prefer to expose my arms as much as possible. I find the warmth of the sun on my skin to be... pleasing. I mean, it gives off a positive feedback loop in my head. I... wanted to experiment with crop tops, but... Mother doesn't approve of me showing off more of my skin."

"This entire trip is about you, Viv," MJ said with the sincerest encouragement, "So if you want that crop top, then let's get you that damn crop top!"

"I actually don't like showing off skin, but I'm with MJ," Kamala said, "Wear what makes you feel most comfortable."

"But I am a mach...", Viv tried to speak but by then even she found the words that she was about to say to be hollow. She looked up to see the encouraging smiles her friends are giving her, and for the first time, Viv didn't mind that her emotion chip was working. She smiled back. "There are some... cheaper shorts over there that piqued my interest. Can you... can you both join me?"

Kamala smiles at Viv and holds her shoulder reassuringly. "Of course."

She then followed Viv to the pants section while MJ huffed in amusement before following them both.

* * *

Some time later, Viv, Kamala, and MJ are out in front of the register after paying for the clothes that the robot girl picked out. The clothes were packed into two bags by an androgynous and rather muscular Skrull with a healthy head of blonde hair on their head.

"Thank you for shopping at the Galaxy of Fashion, ladies," the register attendant spoke affably, "Your patronage is much appreciated."

"You're welcome," Viv said before looking at the Skrull's name tag, "Theodore Altman."

"Please. Call me Teddy," they said before eyeing up Viv and giving her a sly smile, "Might I interest you in a Mexxa Rien celestial dress? I understand that it's all the rage in Xandar. At the very least, you'll be the talk at any party you go to."

"Is this stuff really from another planet?", MJ spoke skeptically.

"It's called the 'Galaxy of Fashion' for a reason, my dear. We're the premier clothier outlet on this side of the Milky Way," Teddy remarked, "Doesn't my... unique appearance not give that away?"

"To be honest, you don't really seem too alien," MJ said pointing out Teddy's overall humanoid appearance, "You look like an Orion with Vulcan ears and a Thanos chin," Kamala looked at MJ weirdly before she said defensively, "I'm a Trekkie, okay. Sue me," she then turned back to Teddy, "For all I know, you could be some dude in makeup trying to pawn these 'alien' clothes for a marked up price."

"An interesting point," Teddy said coyly, "Perhaps a demonstration is in place."

The Skrull then demonstrated their shapeshifting powers by transforming into MJ and teasing her with a wink.

MJ huffed. "This proves nothing. You could be a mutant or an Inhuman for all I know."

"Inhumans are technically part alien, my dear," not-MJ pointed out.

"Shut it," MJ said irritably.

Viv spoke up before MJ could continue, "I would be interested in one of these 'celestial dresses'. Does it come in red?"

Teddy nodded turning back into their normal appearance. "Of course," they then stepped out of the counter and beckoned Viv to follow them, "Let me take your measurements. We'll have that dress ready for you in a week."

As Viv trailed behind Teddy, MJ whispered to Kamala, "Poor girl's gonna get ripped off."

Kamala shrugs. "At least she's finding her own taste. That has to count for something."

MJ took one more look at Viv before she and Teddy disappeared amongst the crowd and racks. She shrugged.

"As long as it's not my money, I suppose."

* * *

After their little splurge fest, the girls did some window shopping until the hour reached seven. They joined Peter in the theater on the third floor, and the gang of friends watched the long awaited second sequel to the critically acclaimed Wonder Woman movie. Hopes were raised after the main lead of the franchise, Gal Gadot, was brought back from the Blip. While the first sequel was overall well received by audiences, critics felt that the actress replacing Gadot dragged the movie down due to her lack of a stage presence and her terrible approximation to her predecessor's accent.

But now that Gadot and most of the staff a back to pen the third entry of the series, how did it stack up?

"That was... awesome!", Kamala exclaimed giddily as she and her friends walked out of the theater, "The effects were the best! That new Xandarian CGI technology really made the movie pop! I never thought I get to see faithful depictions of King Shark and Clayface in live action and look that good!"

"And those action scenes!", Peter said before doing a chef's kiss, "Perfecto!"

"Eh," MJ said less enthusiastically, "That final battle scene with Mr. Psycho..."

" _Doctor_ Psycho," Kamala corrected.

"Whatever," MJ spoke rolling her eyes, "It's kinda by-the-numbers for superhero movies at this point. Also, the main villain... he kinda lacked depth. He's just an evil sexist who wanted to mind control the world, because the only evil plan more cliched than that is a world destroying laser or a portal in the sky. Kinda a step down from the last movie."

"Seriously?", Peter objected, "You liked the last movie better than this?"

"Well... kinda," MJ said hesitantly before sighing and saying, "Okay, I do. I liked the last movie better than this."

Kamala and Peter groaned.

Peter said, "You can't be serious."

"You're just being contrarian for the sake of it now," Kamala added.

"Come on. Hear me out," MJ then explained, "The last movie had two great villains! Cheetah, Diana's best friend who was crushing on her bad and then turned into an evil monster against her will. We also had Maxwell Lord, tragic figure that Wondie had to be wary of because he was too obsessed of the past like she was not to mention he had an actual personality. Wonder Woman went through this great emotional arc that ended with the first lesbian kiss in a superhero movie. But this movie basically repeats the second movie only grittier and giving her a new love interest out of nowhere!"

"What's wrong with Batwoman?", Kamala spoke up, "Aimee Carrero played her perfectly, and if you read the tie-in comic..."

"Well, I didn't read the comic and so did most of the audience!", MJ countered, "I shouldn't have to read supplementary material to understand one of the main plot points of a movie! For all I know, Kate Kane is just some rando vigilante who hangs around Diana for some reason. I swear, the studio only fridged Cheetah in between movies so that Wonder Woman can have a younger love interest, because the out-of-touch, creepy, old white guys who ran things before came back to life and are desperate to dial back all the progress pop culture made during the Blip!"

"At least they didn't replace Cheetah with a dude," Kamala said, "And Wonder Bat didn't come out of nowhere! They set up that relationship in Justice League 2!"

"Yeah, for, like, five minutes. God forbid we see an older queer couple on screen," MJ said before raising her hands in the air in outrage, "Because they don't exist apparently!"

"But at least we have Gadot back," Kamala argued, "Even you have to admit she's a lot better than the actress from the last movie."

MJ growled. "For the last time. She wasn't that bad!"

"MJ...", Kamala started to say before noticing Peter and Viv walking awkwardly to the side during their little spat. Feeling a little shame, Kamala looked at the apparently impassive Viv and asked her, "What about you? What did you think of the movie?"

Viv looked at Kamala for a second before looking away with uncertainty plain in her formerly blank face. With a hesitant blush, Viv gathered her thoughts and turned back to Kamala saying, "I... I liked the scene in the second act break."

"The one where Wondie spoke to the ghost of her dead aunt?", Peter asked to which Viv nodded.

She said, "I... connected to that scene. How Antiope told Diana to stop being a self-sacrificing hero and... allow herself to be loved is... I loved that."

Viv's friends looked at her and listened to her thoughtfully, even MJ.

MJ shrugged and said, "Okay, I admit. That scene made me cry, and... made Wonder Bat not be completely infuriating."

"See?", Kamala said, "Wondie 3 is not all action and special effects."

MJ rolled her eyes and sighed in defeat. "Whatever."

The four friends then walked a fair distance. MJ and Peter trailed behind the conversing Viv and Kamala.

Peter whispered to her, "So..."

"Yup," MJ whispered, "Definitely lying. Viv acts like a robot, but she definitely has feelings."

"I wonder why Viv would lie about something like that?", Peter asked, "Wouldn't letting her emotions be out in the open help her blend in? It's certainly more convincing than the Terminator talk she likes to fall back to."

"I'll ask her about it later."

Back with Viv and Kamala, the latter was laughing at something the former had just told her.

Viv let out a small smile as she said, "I do not see the humor. All I said was..."

"I know!", Kamala said still laughing, "It's just... the thought of the your mom- the Scarlet Witch, who faced down Ultron and Thanos- being scared of rats is just... hahaha! What? Does she, like, jump and let out a high-pitched scream when noticed that rat in your living room?"

"She did," Viv answering much to Kamala's delight, "Although, it's an understandable reaction. Half of her extended family perished due to the Carrion Plague in 1995, which was brought on by rats and abetted by poor Sokovian health standards."

Instantly, Kamala's smile dropped. "Oh... well, now I feel like a total jerk. Thanks, Viv."

"Well... I won't tell Mother if you don't wish to upset her," Viv offered.

"Thanks Viv," Kamala said smiling again. Viv smiled back as she continued, "It's... nice seeing you so open today. You're usually so guarded."

Viv looked down in shame. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be," Kamala said as she placed a hand on her friend's hand, "It's nice seeing this side of you."

"I must admit. It felt... nice not having to suppress my emotions," Viv admitted hesitantly.

"Then why don't you let them out all the time?", Kamala suggested, "You can feel this relaxed everyday, you know."

"It's just...", Viv let her words hang on her tongue for a second before finally admitting, "But if I do... I'll have to deal with the bad emotions too."

"That's just part of life, Viv," Kamala told her, "You have to take in the good with the bad. Sure, life can be painful sometimes, but I'd rather have bad days than go through life without ever having to feel anything."

Viv looked at Kamala intently for a moment before looking down and thinking on her words. However, before she could actually process what her friend told her, a loud, annoying shout interrupted Viv's thoughts.

"Boycott Stark Industries!", an angry bearded man carrying a sign shouted in the middle of the promenade, "Boycott Stark!"

MJ groaned. "Great. It's that asshole."

Peter added just as tired, "What is he railing about now?"

As if prompted by Peter himself, the man talked loudly as he passed leaflets to the unfortunate passersby. "Stark Industries just announced its so-called 'Project Jocasta' to develop another artificial intelligence! If you want to stop them from starting the robot apocalypse, meet me and my friends at this address tomorrow at noon!"

"So the jerk, whose name escapes me for the moment, is going after robots today," MJ spoke with disgust.

Kamala and Peter looked at Viv worriedly, who regained her blank expression and told her friends, "I do not wish to hear more. Let us leave."

Her friends nodded. They begin to leave... until the protestor said more than he should have.

"Only we can stop the apocalypse!", he shouted, "Stop those Stark idiots from making another Ultron! Or another Vision!"

Viv stopped in her tracks as her face began to contort with shock and then rage. Her friends also stop and look on worriedly.

Kamala tried to reach out to her friend, "Viv. He's not worth..."

Before she could finish, Viv stormed off to confront the protestor.

As Viv approaches him, the protestor attempted to hand her one of his anti-AI leaflets. "You there! Will I see you in..."

"I do not care for your demonstration," Viv spoke. Although she tried to control her emotions, the anger in her face was plain for all to see. "You will leave. Now."

The protestor scoffed. "You don't like it? Too bad! Someone's gotta spread the message. Stopping the robot apocalypse is much more important than your stupid opinion."

Viv gritted her teeth. "Artificial intelligence itself won't be enough to create a world-ending crisis. In fact, the technology has a number of beneficial real world applications."

"Tell that to Ultron."

"That was one example," Viv pointed out, "The sample size for your argument is insufficient. Vision proves that-"

"I am sick and tired of people throwing that green and red tool on my face!", the man shouted in frustration.

"And for good reason. Vision was a hero. He saved many lives as an Avenger."

" _It_ was a creation of Ultron!", the man countered, "Vision was the Avengers' pet robot. Would you call an unmanned drone a war hero for bombing terrorists?"

"How dare you...", Viv growled.

It was then that Kamala came over and tried to pull her friend away. She said, "Come on. Let's just go."

Peter whispered, "You can't reason with people like him. It's a waste of time."

The man kept running his mouth. "Face it. At best, your precious Vision was just a tool. A flashy, overdesigned weapon. At worst, it was a ticking time bomb. A double agent who was gonna turn on humanity at the first opportunity. We're lucky that Thanos killed its metal ass before... hurk!"

Before the protestor could finish his sentence, an enraged Viv placed her hand over his neck, choking him and cutting off his airways.

"Be silent," Viv spat hatefully before using her super strength to lift the insolent man in the air and slowly squeeze harder.

The man dropped his sign and started flailing in the air as he struggled to breathe. He tried pounding on Viv's arm to get her to release him, but Viv is a synthezoid. It was like a fly trying to bite a lion. A very angry lion with the strength of a hundred men. Viv's friends and the surrounding bystanders look on in shock and horror as she was close to either suffocating the poor man to death or breaking his neck.

Thankfully, Kamala tugged on Viv and pleaded, "Viv! That's enough! You're gonna kill him!", Viv didn't respond. She was consumed with too much rage and killing intent to pay attention to anything else. Thankfully, Kam had one last card to play. She moved closer to Viv and whispered, "Please... think about your father. Would he want you to be a murderer?"

Viv snapped out of her rage. She looked at her hand and the dying man on it. Gasping in horror, Viv let go of the man and let him drop. As he wheezed and coughed, Viv took a step back and noticed that people were staring at her. Whispering about her. Judging her.

Feeling overwhelming shame and guilt, Viv began to tear up. Kamala and the others moved to comfort her, but Viv stepped away.

She told them, "That's why machines shouldn't have feelings! I... I... I'm sorry!"

Viv ran away.

"Viv!", Kamala tried to run after her, but Peter stopped her.

"Give her some space, Kam," Peter told her.

Kamala winced and looked at Peter hesitantly. However, she did ultimately relent and let her friend go.

MJ said, "I guess we now know why she hides her feelings."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> On that dour note, we end this chapter. If you feel sad by the end of this... good. That was my purpose. Your despair is my primary form of sustenance lol.
> 
> Seriously, I hope you've enjoyed this chapter and I'm sorry for the egregious wait yet again. I really wanted to write new stories, but my writer's block is acting up. Thankfully, I have this story to fall back to.
> 
> Anyway, I hope you enjoy some of my worldbuilding. I'm especially proud of the Wonder Woman bit. I enjoyed thinking of a hypothetical scenario where the production of the Wonder Woman movies and the DCEU in general got, well, interesting due to the Blip. I also enjoy integrating Earth into the wider galaxy. Considering Earth's role in major galactic events, it was only a matter for time for alien entities to try to cash in on the Earth market. Naturally, this will cause interstellar trade and even alien immigration (though Teddy lived on Earth their entire life).
> 
> Speaking of Teddy Altman, they identify as nonbinary in this AU. Why? Mostly due to habit on my part. The stories where he appeared (which are deleted now) have them be nonbinary mostly as an exploration of the potential gender fluidity that comes with being from a culture of shapeshifters. When a people are able to change their form at will, why wouldn't some of them try gender identities outside the "normal" binary?
> 
> As for Teddy's role in this story, I plan for them to interact more with Viv and friends in a semi-regular fashion. If the amazing friends ever form a team, I want Teddy to be around them frequently enough to get an invite. Also, if I ever want to do bigger story arcs, Teddy's unique heritage as the child of Mar-Vell and a Skrull princess would help propel that plot. For right now, though, I think I'll just try to nail their character. I plan for them to be like Elim Garak from Star Trek: Deep Space 9, an enigmatic but charming person with a sense of culture and a mind for tactics and espionage. Like Garak, I plan for Teddy to have a more, shall we say, militaristic past than their comic counterpart as well as have some more... pragmatic tendencies.
> 
> But that might be subject to change.
> 
> Also, Project Jocasta... that might also be important later. We'll see.
> 
> Next time, we'll see what Wanda's been doing while her kid was hanging out with her friends. I'll give you a hint. She was going to a job interview for a school for... gifted youngsters.
> 
> Thanks for the read. Have a nice day.


	7. A Pinch of Paprika

"Have fun, sweetheart," Wanda said kissing her daughter on the forehead. She then looked her stern in the eye and said, "Be careful, okay? If you see a superhero fight..."

"Turn the other way," Viv said, "I remember you saying it 105 times before, Mother."

"Did I really?", Wanda asked both a little curious and a little embarrassed.

Viv nodded. "My memory is infallible. I am a synthezoid. I don't forget."

Wanda hummed. "Right. I keep forgetting that."

Maria walked over to the mother-daughter duo in the living room. She told them, "Time is short ladies," Maria turned to Viv, "You still need to go to school first. And you...", she turned to Wanda, "Can't be late for that job interview."

"Right," Wanda turned back to her daughter and hugged her, "I love you. Be careful, okay?"

"106," Viv reminded.

Wanda laughed as she picked up her purse.

As she walked out, Maria remarked, "Try not to waste the small fortune I spent to help you get that GED."

"I'm so touched by your confidence," Wanda said as she walked over and stepped out the front door.

When she was gone, Viv looked at Maria confused and asked her, "I don't register confidence in your tone of voice. I'm confused."

Maria rolled her eyes. Apparently, she needed to explain to Viv about the finer points of sarcasm.

* * *

Wanda was waiting anxiously outside the office of the school principal along with a few other hopeful applicants.

The school she was applying for is called the Academy of Tomorrow, and it's a special charter school in Queens designed to help integrate nonhuman children, namely mutants and Inhumans, into society. Despite the school's rather exclusive purpose, the Academy of Tomorrow also allows the enrollment of regular human children to hopefully better foster human-nonhuman relations. This school was the brainchild of Professor Charles Xavier, a prominent mutant philanthropist who established the first mutant school in his family's home estate in Westchester County.

An evolution of Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters requires instructors to help these young Enhanced in the proper use of their powers, and Wanda, being an Avenger, can very much help with that. However, the one detail that might hinder Wanda's chances at getting the job is her underprivileged background.

She and her brother had to drop out of high school in Sokovia to help their family through hard times. While Maria has been a major help in trying to get the barest of credentials, the fact remained that Wanda doesn't seem to be a good fit at any teaching position on paper. At this point, Wanda hoped that her mastery over her powers and her reputation would be enough to get her something.

But honestly, this interview could go either way.

The secretary in front of the office got a ping from his boss. When the applicant inside the office stepped out the door, the secretary called out, "Wanda Maximoff. Principal Munroe would like to see you now."

Wanda gulped as she nervously wiped the sweat off her brow. Now was the moment of the truth. She got up from the couch and marched her way into the office.

Once inside, Wanda saw a black woman with long white hair. Nothing that unusual until she looked into the woman's eyes, which were pure white. She definitely wasn't human, not that Wanda was expecting her to be.

Taking in a deep breath, Wanda shut the door behind her and took the seat in front of the woman's desk, whose name is Ororo Munroe based on the nametag on the desk. Wanda cleared her throat nervously to get Ms. Munroe's attention.

Once Ororo's eyes were on Wanda, the brunette forced a smile and said, "Thank you for looking over my application and considering me for a position in your lovely school. I sincerely appreciate it."

"Don't thank me yet," Ororo spoke in a cold, professional tone, "Out of all the applicants that I've interviewed today, I believe you have to work the hardest to impress me given your... interesting background."

Wanda gulped. So she's jumping straight into it, huh?

Steeling herself, Wanda said, "I know my qualifications seem... questionable, but I can assure you that I am more than dedicated to become a teacher. I... I'm good with teens, and I think I'll be able to help facilitate a productive learning environment."

"And you're basing this self-examination on what experience?", Ororo asked with a discerning eye.

"I, uh, have a daughter at home," Wanda said as the ring around the neck of her shirt was being drenched with sweat, "She is a... very special case. She has trouble grasping certain... subjects, you see. I don't mean to brag, but I think I've done a decent job in teaching her various... social cues, because I care about the well-being and development of any child under my care."

"A compelling argument, yes," Ororo said in a disturbingly unreadable tone, "Anything else?"

"I...", Wand stuttered her mind scrambling for halfway decent answers, "I used babysit my neighbor's son back in Sokovia. And... um, I dogsit too! My other neighbor's dog. Until it... died. But that's because it was old, not because I'm neglectful. No kids are gonna die on my watch. I will... try not to that. I don't kill kids. Promise."

Ororo stared at Wanda for an uncomfortable amount of time before saying, "I'll... take your word for it. Actually, Ms. Maximoff, there is a bigger issue at hand when it comes to your potential employment. It has to do with your background-"

"I am a US citizen!", Wanda yelled in a panic, "I didn't fake my green card! I swear!"

"I wasn't about to ask about that," Ororo said a bit disturbed by Wanda's wide eyed outburst, "No, I'm more concerned about your service with the Avengers."

Wanda shivered. "What about my service?"

Ororo picked up a file and said, "As a member of the Avengers, you and your team are complicit in various violations of local and international law. You even spent a few years as an international fugitive alongside some of your more rebellious fellows. These violations include blatant disregard for national authority, vigilante violence, reckless endangerment of the public and collateral damage such as the incident in Lagos, Nigeria that resulted in the deaths of numerous..."

"Stop," Wanda said as her guilt rose from her chest, "Stop. I... I don't need a reminder."

"I see. I apologize," Ororo then said, "I'm not entirely sure that hiring you on our teaching staff would do our school any favors. The Academy of Tomorrow is on thin ice with the public as it is, mutant-human relations being what they are at the moment. You being part of our faculty might... not go over so well."

"But your school needs someone to teach mutant and Inhuman children how to control their powers," Wanda said desperately, "I can-"

"We have a considerable pool of Enhanced abilities instructors on hand," Ororo countered, "Instructors with an actual background in education and a less... inflammatory reputation."

"Right, because you X-Men have nothing but stainless, pearly white reputations," Wanda muttered bitterly under her breath.

Ororo glared at Wanda before saying, "As of right now, I don't see any reason to put your name in as a priority hire. Not unless you have something that you can contribute to our school that no other prospective hire could offer."

At this point, Wanda was reaching the threshold for resigned defeat. Everything that could go wrong in this interview has happened. And the worst part is that this was entirely expected. After all, what prestigious school would ever accept some barely educated, Sokovian rube? Especially someone who barely did anything right when she was in a position to do something that actually matters?

Wanda wouldn't hire such a person in Ororo's position.

Or have her be the parent of someone as talented and wonderful as Viv.

Feeling down and bellicose, all Wanda could do now is vent. At this point, it wouldn't hurt her already slim chances.

"I... I asked for these powers, you know," Wanda told Ororo, "I didn't ask for the rather... invasive manner that activated my X-Gene, but I asked for these powers at the end of the day. I wanted to use them to enact revenge on Tony Stark and his Avengers for everything they did, or everything I thought they did, to my family. But... deep down I think I just wanted to feel powerful for once in my life. Growing up poor in the crappy part of my home country is... I got used to being powerless. I couldn't stop the people I love from dying, so I thought that having the power to make powerful people hurt would... I don't know, feel good, I guess. Make the hurt go away. But it didn't."

"I'm sorry you had to go through that," Ororo said, her professional attitude starting to crack, "I'm surprised actually. Most mutants under our care resent their abilities once they develop."

"I did too, eventually. The path these powers led me... it costed me my brother. After Ultron, I started to regret ever volunteering for Hydra's experiments. My powers didn't make the hurt go away. If anything, it made it worse. I've... hurt many good people with these in ways that... were unworthy of me. People started seeing me as a loaded gun rather than a person. My human teammates tried to help, but... they never really understood me. Not really. They never had to hold back, and they don't understand what it's like to feel like a freak."

"Sounds like you needed a support system. I'm sorry we didn't find you first."

Wanda then smiled. "But I did. I found Vision. He is... was a freak like me. And... he was okay with it. No angst at all. It was very weird. This... synthezoid was less human than I was, and he was at peace with that. I was... drawn to that. I wanted that peace for myself."

"And Vision taught you to make peace with your mutation?"

Wanda shook her head. "Not really. I learned later on that Vis was just as confused and lonely as I was. He was just better at hiding it!", she said with a fond laugh, "I think that's why I fell in love with him. He showed me that it was okay to feel vulnerable. 'The path to self-actualization is a long and hard one,' he used to say. Life is hard and often unfair, especially for us freaks, but those small moments of joy and companionship make the struggle worth it. I want to try to teach my daughter this lesson. She doesn't show it, but I know she doesn't feel comfortable in her own skin. I can't make her learn this lesson overnight, but... I'm more than happy to share her burdens like her father once did for me."

Ororo looked at Wanda curiously and asked, "Ms. Maximoff, if you can go back and meet your younger self, what would you tell her?"

Without skipping a beat, Wanda replied, "I'd tell her that things will never be easier. There will always be bad days. Life will always be unfair. But I'd also tell her to make more friends, and cherish the people in her life. No one should ever have to go through this life alone."

"Interesting," Ororo's face then lit up with a smile, "There is a few more questions I'd like to ask you, Ms. Maximoff. I'd like to feel out your fitness as a potential instructor, if you don't mind that is."

Wanda slowly smiled back and said, "Sure. Ask away."

* * *

After finishing the interview with more confidence than when she went in, the scarlet mutant took a late night bus home after spending a couple hours at Sam's nephew's birthday party, which she had been invited to earlier. Using her personal house key, Wanda stepped inside the house, intending to have a little 'me-time' in the living room with a _Buffy the Vampire Slayer_ marathon as she waited for Maria and Viv to come home. However, once she locked the door, Wanda could hear the sounds of anguished sobs emanating from Viv's room.

Curious, Wanda walked up the stairs cautiously and entered her daughter's room. To her surprise, Wanda found Viv curled up in a corner and crying.

Feeling her heart break at the sight of her distraught daughter, Wanda walked over to Viv and asked softly, "Viv, sweetie, what's wrong? Why are you crying?"

Viv sniffled and looked up at her mother. Staring into her worried eyes, Viv shied away from Wanda's caring gaze in shame. She turned around, turning her back on her mother as Viv buried her head into her corner.

Desperately trying to turn off the emotions that are plaguing her, Viv tried (and failed) to speak in her usual calm. "Nothing is wrong! I... I... sniff..."

"Sweetheart," Wanda said as she knelt down to Viv's level and gently held her shoulders, "What happened? Where's Maria? And your friends?"

Viv sniffled some more and reluctantly answered, "I... I left them."

"Why?"

Viv sobbed some more as she answered, "I'm a bad person. I'm so sorry, mom. I'm so sorry..."

"Oh Viv, come here," Wanda said tugging on Viv with the utmost empathy in her maternal eyes. She gently held her daughter's chin and slowly turned her head to face her. Once their eyes met, more tears streamed down Viv's eyes as she lunged at her mother, embracing her tightly, and sobbing into her shoulder.

As Wanda wrapped her arms around her daughter, Viv whimpered, "I... I hurt someone, mom. I got angry, and I almost..."

Viv broke down into more sobs, the mere mention of the incident being too painful to recall.

"Hush...", Wanda whispered gently into Viv's ear, "It's okay. It's okay..."

"No! It's not okay!", Viv cried out hysterically, "I almost killed someone! And I... I wanted to kill him! I wanted to kill him! For... for insulting Father and everything he stood for! Huff, he'd be so disappointed in me! I should've been better! I should've... I should've..."

"Your father loved you, Viv," Wanda said reassuringly, "He could never hate you. Even for doing... whatever it is you almost did. He would've understood. I know he would."

"How do you know?", Viv said in a pleading tone.

Wanda's mind went back to one of the darkest moments in her life. As much as she didn't want to think about that horrible time, Wanda would do so without hesitation for the sake of her daughter.

Taking a deep breath, Wanda told Viv, "Because your father did the same with me. Back when I was an Avenger, I... I made a mistake. I was rash and... people died because of it. I... hated myself for my mistake, and at times, it felt like the entire world was blaming me for everything. But your father... he didn't. Even after what happened, and what I've done before, he never saw me as some uncontrollable monster. He just saw... me."

"And what do you see in me, mom?"

Wanda pulled away, looked Viv in the eye, and wiped away one of her tears. "I see a brilliant girl with a good heart. I see all your father's best qualities. His intelligence. His thoughtfulness. Kindness. And I see my daughter, who doesn't see how wonderful she really is. Not yet, anyway."

"I... I'm a machine. An artificial being," Viv murmured looking down, "How can I be any of those things?"

"I can't tell you, my love. You'll have to find that out for yourself one day. But I promise, I'll be here from today to that day and always. I'll be here when you need someone who would listen. Someone who would support you. Someone who would offer you a shoulder to cry on. I love you, Viv. Nothing, absolutely nothing, will ever change that."

Sniffling, Viv pleaded, "You promise?"

Wanda smiled and lifted Viv's hand. She extended her daughter's pinkie and wrapped it with her own.

Viv was confused by this gesture, but then Wanda said, "I promise."

Wiping away her tears, Viv looked away shyly, still uncomfortable with the feelings she has, as she asked her mom, "Can you... tell me something about Father? Something that's... that's not in my databanks? I need... a distraction."

Wanda wrapped her arms around her daughter's back and kissed her on the cheek. As Viv mustered a small smile, her mom said, "Your father... couldn't cook to save his life."

"He couldn't?", Viv asked with her brow raised, "But what about the six hundred and sixteen recipes he had downloaded in his memory banks?"

"Well, Vision learned that it takes more than just some dusty, old recipe to make a good meal. Cooking, like my father always said, requires a personal touch to make it really special. Plus, he didn't know how to measure a pinch. It always made his paprikash so spicy! If I didn't have a high spice tolerance, I think my tongue would've burned up a long time ago!"

"But what is a 'pinch'? It is not a unit of measurement. How do you quantify it?"

Wanda shed a happy tear and smiled.

Her daughter was so much like her father in all the right ways.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One day, I wish to weaponize feels and use it to take over the world. But for now, I suppose I'll just be satisfied with putting it into crappy fanfics. Like this one lol.
> 
> The next chapter after this one will be the last chapter. But don't worry! This won't be the last you see of Viv and her universe. By now this story will be filed into a series. I don't know what it's called by the time of me writing this, but it'll be there when this chapter is up. My reasoning for this is because I've always planned to make bigger stories with this universe. However, the bigger story arcs I have planned are frankly bigger than Viv. It will involve the other teen characters of this story and then some. To do that right, I have to make a sequel series with a more ensemble focus.
> 
> The sequel will star Viv and friends as part of my favorite hero team. The Champions!
> 
> Also, this series and my other ongoing crossover, "Catra and Adora: Heroes of the Multiverse", take place in the same universe. Check that out and follow it. The third chapter of that story will involve a cameo of Viv and the fam.
> 
> As for the next chapter, it's gonna take place during Carol's "welcome home" party. See you then, and have a nice day!
> 
> *Fun fact: I originally planned to introduce Wiccan here and have Wanda adopt him as Viv's brother. However, I wanted to hold off for later. It would've gotten in the way of the Viv/Wanda stuff, and that big of a change from the status quo deserves its own proper arc.
> 
> I really don't want to write for his brother as I don't wanna overstuff this story with characters, so don't expect Speed to show up any time soon. Sorry. Viv would be the responsible one, so Wiccan as he is would be redundant. So, I think I'll have Billy Kaplan keep his name and powers, but get his brother's brash personality, white hair, and delinquent background to solve these issues.
> 
> My original plan had Billy steal from Wanda, but she catches him, they bond, and Wanda adopts him because of his eery resemblance to her late brother plus his powers are similar to herself. What do you guys think of this idea? Any criticisms?*


	8. Future Vision

It was a chilly Sunday night in the suburbs of Queens. Although the school week was about to begin in under twelve hours, one of the houses still shined brightly under the starry night. Inside, sounds of merriment, camaraderie, and general good times echoed within these walls.

This was Carol Danvers' welcome home party, a celebration commemorating the space heroine's retirement from interstellar adventure and her long awaited (and hopefully permanent) reunion with her wife, Maria Rambeau. Although the friends and family of the Danvers-Rambeau couple, both human and Skrull, were having a good time, the party's hostess, Maria Rambeau herself, was certainly not.

Sitting on her chair in the bedroom balcony, Maria looked out into the stars with no other company other than her alien cat, Goose, on her lap. She pet her flerken idly and sighed. Although her friends were here, the two people that she valued the most weren't.

Her daughter, Monica, and Carol herself.

She can understand why Monica declined her invitation. Ever since Carol came back all those years ago, the formerly strong bond that she and Monica had wilted with distance and soured with time. While Carol made every effort she could to visit her Earth family whenever her war permitted it, it was never enough for Monica.

Carol missed so many things. Driving her to her first date. Having her back when the entire school turned on her after her first date with a girl. Taking a picture of her and her prom date. Being there for her high school graduation. Being there for her college graduation.

For every event that Carol managed to catch, she missed two more important milestones. It only made sense that Monica would resent her for it, and not show up today.

Maria got why Monica didn't show. But why isn't Carol with her now?

Her wife promised she would be back by tonight and for good. She gave her word that she will return to her. To make up for lost time and spend the rest of their lives with each other like they vowed to on their wedding day.

Carol doesn't have a war to fight anymore, so what's going on?

Was she being held up somehow? Or... does she not love her anymore?

The very thought ran chills down Maria's spine. She didn't want to think about that possibility, but every moment that Carol is missing is making her think that this scary prospect is true. After all, thanks to Carol's Kree DNA, her aging has slowed down dramatically. While she remained her beautiful, youthful self for the past couple of decades, Maria... definitely wasn't in her twenties anymore.

She grew a few wrinkles. Her hair was starting to go grey.

She got old.

Why would someone like Carol ever want to stay with someone like her?

Maria was trying not to cry, but the effort proved increasingly difficult for each passing second.

It was then that Maria's roommate, Wanda Maximoff, entered her room.

She approached Maria from behind and said, "You're missing one hell of a party, you know. That Skrull, Talos I think, managed to bring an authentic blackjack table. He's been using it to con everyone of their money! Wanna help me kick his ass?"

Maria sullenly responded, "No thanks."

Wanda knew immediately what's eating her friend up. She drew closer to Maria and said, "I'm sure she'll be here soon."

"You know, I said the exact same thing to myself whenever I have to spend our anniversary all by myself."

Wincing in pity, Wanda can only say, "Sorry."

Maria sighed deeply and put Goose on the floor to let her poach the mini-fridge (which Maria got exclusively for her ravenous cat). "I love her, Wanda. I love her more than anyone else in my life, but... I would be lying if I said that she wasn't the person who hurt me the most in my life. I miss her, Wan. I miss her bad."

Wanda took a deep breath and looked away in sorrow. "At least she's still out there, Maria."

Maria stood up and looked at Wanda. She scolded herself internally as she said, "Damn it. Sorry. I didn't mean to..."

Wanda waved her off. "It's fine. This really isn't about me. I'm the one who should be sorry."

The two women were held in uncomfortable silence for a moment.

"I don't know Carol all that well," Wanda started, "Hell, I only ever had one conversation with her. But if she's half the woman you say she is, she won't abandon you. Not now. Not after she gave you her word."

"I keep hoping that, Wan," Maria said scratching her hands anxiously, "But I keep getting bad reminders of every time her war took her away from me and Monica. The worst part is that I'm _expecting_ her not to show. And why would she? After all, she'll be coming home to me, and... I'm not as pretty as I used to be."

Wanda looked at Maria with pity for a second, but then she smiled. "Cut yourself some slack. As old ladies go, you clean up very nicely."

Maria rolled her eyes. "I'm serious, Wanda."

"So am I!", Wanda said chuckling, "I mean, if I was gay, I'd totally ask you out for dinner."

Maria managed to muster a little smile. She leaned against the railing, pressed the side of her head into her hand, and placed a hand on her hip in a flirtatious pose. "You sure you aren't," Maria said in a rather sultry tone.

Wanda smirked and caressed Maria's cheek. "Well, if you put it that way..."

Maria chuckled. And Wanda chuckled.

The two then bursted into laughter.

"Thanks Wan. I needed that," Maria said, "But still, I am way out of your league."

"Trust me, I know," Wanda mused, "Don't worry about Carol. Viv's on the case. I'm sure it won't be long now."

"If I'm sure of one thing, it's that if Carol's on Earth, Viv will find her in no time."

* * *

Idling in Earth's stratosphere is a small, white and red shuttle of Skrull design. Inside the tiny vessel was Carol Danvers, who was sitting in the pilot's seat slouched and with her eyes on her phone. She sent out a call to Monica's phone, and after waiting anxiously for a few minutes, Carol got a response.

_"The number you are trying to reach is unavailable. Please leave a-"_

"RAAGGH!", Carol shouted as she threw her phone away in frustration, shattering it thanks to the superhuman force exerted by her arm. After panting heavily for a second or two, Carol curled up into a ball on her seat and buried her head in her hands.

She's been trying to contact her daughter for the past couple hours. Carol made calls, sent texts, and left voice messages begging Monica to call back, but they were all met with no response save for automated responses and cold indifference. This understandably crushed Carol Danvers on an emotional level, and the worst part was that deep down she knew she deserved it for everything she put her family through during the war.

"Damn it... damn it...", Carol mumbled under her breath as she struggled to not cry.

"Carol Danvers," an unfamiliar voice called out from behind.

This spooked Carol, causing her to jump out of her seat. Using finely honed combat instincts, Carol quickly turned around and raised her fist, which glowed gold with cosmic fire and ready to blast any enemy she sees. However, it wasn't an enemy that came to give the mighty Captain Marvel a visit. Instead, it was none other than Viv Vision.

Holding her hands up in a show of nonviolence, Viv spoke, still in her usual calm despite the potentially volatile situation, "No need to be alarmed, Mrs. Danvers. I come in peace."

Before Viv even finished that sentence, however, Carol lowered her fist and stared slackjawed at the amazing sight in front of her. It was the face of her beloved daughter during her teenage years, a time that Carol would always regret missing out for the most part.

"Monica!", Carol cried happily as she started to rush towards her teenage daughter. Soon into her stride, however, Carol remembered that it's been almost two decades since her daughter looked like that. She stopped in her tracks and exhaled in disappointment. "Wait... you... you're not Monica, aren't you?"

Viv nodded. "My name is Viv Vision."

"Right, Maria mentioned you. Sorry," Carol said rubbing the back of her head awkwardly, "It's just... you look so much like my daughter, Monica."

"Not surprising, considering I modelled this form in her likeness."

"Maria also mentioned that. Sorry if I made this awkward for you."

"My emotion chip is currently disabled, so you need not worry about my comfort for the moment."

"Really?", Carol asked with a curious brow raised, "That's... good to know. I guess," she then turned around and returned to her seat, "So what brings you here?"

"Your wife sent me. Your absence has caused her to become emotionally distressed, so she asked me to find you."

"And how exactly did you find me?"

"It wasn't difficult," Viv said in a tone that Carol swore sounded like pride, "I have access to the Avengers' satellite network. I was able to use them to track down your unique energy signature."

"I'll try to be better at sneaking next time," Carol snarked before turning somber again, "Give Maria my apologies. I didn't mean to scare her. It's just... I had matters that I had to deal with."

"Matters related to your daughter, I assume."

"Aren't you a sharp one. How perceptive."

"That much is plain to see. The excitement you demonstrated when first seeing my form and your subsequent disappointment when you discerned my true identity makes it clear that Monica Rambeau is at the forefront of your mind. From what I can discern, you must have tried used this time to try to contact her. Am I correct to assume this?"

Carol's eyes widened in amazement. "Wow. You're good."

"My father simply programmed me with advanced body language detection protocols. Nothing more."

"Still... that's impressive," Carol then sighed, "I just... I regret missing a lot of her childhood. I should've spent more time with her. I should've tried harder."

"You had a war to fight," Viv countered, "From what I understand, your contributions aided in the final destruction of the Kree Supreme Intelligence in its quest for universal domination. You can hardly be blamed for sacrificing visitation to your Earth family if it was for a greater good."

"Tell that to Monica," Carol argued, "I don't expect you to understand, but my daughter needed me here. I'm her mother. I was supposed to be there for her. To take care of her. Love her. But I was away too many times. I don't blame her for hating me. I hated my mother too for leaving me and my brothers."

"Why do you assume that your daughter hates you? There could be a number of other reasons why she couldn't come to the party today."

Carol looked away in shame. She curled up into a ball once again as she reluctantly explained, "Yesterday, Monica... sent me a voice message. She got drunk, and... she sent me this rant telling me how much she hated me for neglecting her as a kid. She told me that she and Maria were better off without me, and... she said that she no longer considered me to be her mom. So... yeah. I know for sure that that's the reason why Monica didn't show up tonight. And the worst part was that she's right. After being gone in her life for so long... I don't deserve to call myself her mother. And Maria, she... deserved better too. They both deserved better than me."

At that point, Carol managed to shed a few tears. "I'm starting to think that their lives would've been better if I never came back and led them on the way I did. Even if it wasn't intentional...", Carol mumbled sadly.

It was then that Viv activated her emotion chip to allow herself to feel pity and empathy for Carol. She drew closer to Carol and told her, "There are some days where I felt hatred for my father. Mother told me about how willing he was to sacrifice himself to keep Thanos from getting his Mind Stone, and that made me so angry. He was willing to abandon me. No, he already did leave me alone in this world for ultimately nothing. I always wondered that if he tried harder to keep himself alive, then maybe he would still be with me today. And that thought made me even more angry. Angry and... sad."

"I'm sorry you had to go through that," Carol said empathetically.

"But as much as I hated him for leaving, he was still my father. I love him, and I always will," Viv said with the utmost sincerity, "And I know for a fact that Maria misses you badly. She wants you to come home despite the pain your absence brought her," Carol sniffled at that part, "As for Monica, I know this rejection hurts now, but I truly believe that she still loves you deep down. You just have to give her time."

"How do you know that?", Carol asked doubtfully.

"Because I never met my father in person. But, I'd welcome him with open arms if he were to ever, by some miracle, come back to me and mom."

Carol was silent for a good moment. She took a deep breath and wiped away her tears. "I want to go home now, Viv."

The girl smiled and said, "Let me show you the way."

* * *

Back at the balcony, Wanda has been distracting Maria with some friendly conversation. The latter was back on her seat with Goose on her lap again as she talked to Wanda about the game taking place next weekend. However, their idle conversation was interrupted when Maria caught a bright light on the corner of her eye.

The two women turned around to see Carol and Viv fly over towards them. Maria let out a sigh of relief and desire as she watched her beautiful wife fly towards her like some celestial angel. Once Carol and Viv landed on the balcony, Goose jumped out of Maria's lap and made her way towards Carol. The flerken rubbed her head and body against Carol's leg affectionately, prompting the blonde to let out a pleased chuckle as she knelt down to pet her alien cat.

As she did so, Maria hesitantly drew closer to her wife, almost afraid that the woman she is seeing before her is an illusion. Carol noticed her approaching wife and got up to meet her at eye level. The two women then stared at each other for a moment or two. The tension between them was so thick that you can cut it with a knife.

Carol shifted her eyes around nervously as Maria's gaze was set upon her. Feelings of guilt and longing were practically choking her. It made it difficult to properly articulate her difficult feelings into words, but eventually, Carol said, "I'm sorry for being late. I-"

Carol was interrupted when Maria suddenly pulled her in for a passionate kiss. As Maria embraced her, Carol's eyes widened, but she soon closed them and melted into her wife's arms to deepen their shared kiss.

By the time Maria pressed Carol against the railing, Wanda tugged at her daughter's arm and covered her eyes with the other hand. "Come on, Viv," she said leading her to the door, "This is the part where we gracefully exit."

"I am coded to be sixteen, mother," Viv protested, "I am more familiar with organic intimacy than you give me credit for."

"Don't be a perv, Viv," Wanda lightheartedly scolded as they exit the room and close the door behind them. They then began their walk down the hall and into the stairs.

As they did so, Viv blushed in embarrassment and said, "I resent your implication, mother."

"Doesn't make me any less right, now does it?", Wanda teased.

Viv simply remained silent and blushed even harder. Although no words were said, that just confirms all what Wanda needed know about her daughter.

Once they were scaling down the stairs, Wanda cleared her throat loudly to addressed the mass of people in front of her. Once she had their attention, Wanda announced, "Everyone! Good news! Carol Danvers has entered the building!"

"Yah!", they all cheered. Cake at last!

However, Wanda motioned them all to quiet down and added, "But she and Maria wanted some time to... 'mend their fence' if you catch my drift. So let's give them at least thirty minutes, shall we?"

"Awwn...", they collectively groaned in disappointment. No cake...

The two then continued their walk down the stairs.

Wanda spotted a group of four kids entering the front door. She smiled when she recognized them as Viv's friends- Peter, MJ, Ned, and Kamala. Wanda pointed her daughter towards them, and her face lit up, especially upon seeing Kamala Khan.

Wanda looked at her daughter for a moment and noticed the hearts in her eyes when she gazed on Kamala. Smiling, she told Viv, "She's cute."

"That she is," Viv said back without really thinking.

"You should ask her out."

Viv's eyes widened, and she looked away from Kamala out of hesitation. "I... I shouldn't," Viv stuttered, "I... we would be a bad match."

"Why?"

"Because I'm a machine and she's human. We're just not compatible."

"Neither were your father and I," Wanda said, which caused something inside Viv to light up. As Viv put her gaze back on Kamala, Wanda kissed her daughter's head and said, "Have fun, my love."

Wanda and Viv then parted ways.

Viv walked over to her friends. Kamala was the first to notice her approach, and she greeted her with a big hug. Viv sighed happily and wrapped her arms around her friend, loving the warmth exuding out of her.

Once they separated, the rest of their group gathered around Viv.

MJ was the first to speak, "Interesting party you have here."

Ned stared at the Skrull cheating everyone at the blackjack table and asked, "Are those real aliens?"

"Nope. They're just cosplayers."

The friends (sans Kamala) stared at Viv oddly as if the robot girl was suddenly replaced by an entirely different person.

Ned asked, "Was that... a joke?"

"Affirmative."

Kamala laughed. "That's great, Viv! Loving your human side."

Viv blushed and said, "Thanks. You look pretty tonight. New top?"

Kamala nodded. "Yeah. My sister-in-law gave me one of her hand-me-downs. I was actually afraid I'd look very tacky in this."

"Nonsense. You look beautiful."

"Aw, thanks," Kamala blushed and said, "You look beautiful too."

The two girls smiled at each other. Their other friends, on the other hand, felt like the third, fourth, and fifth wheels to their increasingly exclusive, increasingly flirtatious conversation.

Thankfully, Peter cleared his throat and asked, "So... where's Mrs. Danvers?"

"She is having intercourse with Mrs. Rambeau in their room," Viv said without a modicum of tact.

All her friends cringed. MJ asked, "Did you have to be that blunt about it?"

Viv shrugged with indifference.

Ned then asked Viv, "So no cake?"

"No cake."

"Awwn," Ned moaned.

"So what do we do now?", Peter asked.

"We could hang out with the Skrulls," Kamala suggested, "They look like an interesting bunch."

"Yeah, but I fear that conversation would quickly spiral into 'naive tourists gawk at the exotic foreigners' territory," MJ pointed out cynically, "No thanks."

"Come on, MJ. We won't be that bad," Peter argued.

"I rather not chance it," MJ insisted, "Better let it come naturally during dessert."

"We could just play video games," Viv suggested.

The four made a collective shrug.

"Sure, why not?", Ned said.

* * *

The five friends crashed in Viv's room and fired up her PS4 to play some _Avengers: Ultimate Alliance 3._ There were only three controllers available- Viv's own controller and the ones Ned and Kamala brought. Peter was purely a PC gamer, so he didn't have a controller to contribute, and MJ thinks video games are stupid power fantasies that promote violence and misogyny. However, for the sake of the friendship, MJ reluctantly took a turn on the controller.

MJ, Peter, and Ned were squatting in front of the TV. They were currently busy doing a level, leaving Viv and Kamala alone to have a conversation (sitting) on the former's bed.

The two were sitting close, enjoying each other's company, as Kamala said, "About the other day..."

"I'm fine, Kamala," Viv said reassuringly, "I am trying to get past that."

"You certainly look better than the last time I saw you. And you seem more... expressive."

"I've been allowing my emotion chip to run, yes," Viv confirmed, "Mother took me to therapy yesterday. Her therapist, in fact. We decided that it would be best for me if I allowed myself to feel for at least five hours a day at differing intervals. The... incident showed me that bottling up my feelings was an unhealthy habit. I needed the catharsis."

"That's good to hear. How do you feel?"

Viv pulled her knees up and sighed. "It's been... difficult. My grief was... is a lot more intense than I originally thought. And all these other feelings are... confusing to say the least. I must admit, I felt tempted to turn off my emotion chip before time was up."

"I'm sorry to hear that," Kamala said her gaze being filled with empathy for her friend, "How much time do you have left?"

"One hour," Viv admitted, "Though, it's easier for me now that you're here."

"Well, if you ever need someone to talk to during those hours, you can always count on me," Kamala said with the utmost sincerity, "Even if I can't come to visit, don't be afraid to call me. I'm more than happy to listen."

Viv smiled. Although these past couple of days have been hard for her, just being with Kamala has a way of making everything better. It's like she could do anything as long as she had Kamala to count on. Even soldier on with these difficult emotions. Viv liked being with Kamala.

Loved her even.

Viv blushed and looked away.

Kamala noticed her friend's discomfort and placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. "Something on your mind?", she asked.

"I... I...", Viv stuttered.

Kamala gently tilted her friend's head to look her in the eye as she said, "It's okay, Viv. Remember, you can tell me anything."

Viv was silent for a moment. She was outright apprehensive about this. Was she really going through with this? She only knew this girl for a week, and was Viv really willing to risk their friendship by acting on her emotions?

"Hey," Kamala whispered as she lowered her hand to clasp Viv's, "It's alright. I won't judge. I promise."

Viv took a deep, symbolic breath. These feelings will get worse the longer she keeps them in. If Viv didn't say anything now, then she might do something really stupid that could damage their friendship even more. That's the absolute fact of the matter.

Viv hesitantly asked, "I... do you have any, um, plans on Tuesday?"

Kamala shook her head. "No. Not really. Why?"

A good start. Don't stop now, Viv told herself. "Because I was thinking... you don't have to agree to this if you don't want to. But... do you think we can have dinner at a restaurant, any restaurant. Just the two of us. I wish to... explore the possibility of a, uh... deeper relationship. Is that... okay?"

It took a bit for Kamala to process the word salad that her friend just gave her, but when she did, she smirked. "Are you asking me out on a date?"

Viv looked away in embarrassment. "It doesn't have to be if you don't want to."

Kamala took both of Viv's hands and looked her in the eye. "I want to."

Viv's face lit up in shock, but then it was graced with an elated smile. Feeling tremendous amounts of joy, Viv practically lunged at Kamala and gave her a big hug. Kamala felt the same warmth in her heart as she wrapped her arms around Viv.

"If you want, we could have that date tomorrow," Kamala offered.

"Thanks, but I have... other plans that day. With Peter," Viv said reluctantly as she pulled away, "Sorry."

"It's okay. I get it," Kamala said with an understanding nod. However, their intimate moment was then interrupted by a frustrated yell.

MJ threw down her controller and shouted, "What the fuck, man!"

Peter paused the game to calm his girlfriend. "Come on, MJ. You did kinda brought it on yourself."

"Yeah," Ned chimed in, "You shouldn't have rushed that mob on your own without support, especially without the healer. It's RPG 101, dude!"

"Yeah, but I was playing Captain Marvel!", she shouted, "She's freaking bulletproof, but I died to some Hydra chump with a tiny pistol! I mean come on! They could at least make this a bit more realistic!"

"In real life, that would be how that works, but that wouldn't make for a balanced and fun game," Peter calmly pointed out.

"And it would make, like, a third of the roster practically useless," Ned added, "I'd very much like to play Hawkeye competitively, thank you."

"This is why video games are freaking bullshit!", MJ grumbled, still not happy about the situation. She came up to Viv and said, "Hey, your turn. Unless you don't wanna deal with that juvenile crap..."

Viv nodded and moved to get out of bed. However, before she did, Kamala came up and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek.

"For luck," Kamala said with a tease and a wink.

Viv blushed and then smiled from ear to ear before walking off to join Peter and Ned. Picking up the controller, Viv asked them, "Can we backtrack to the last checkpoint? I wish to play as father."

"Your house, Viv. Sure," Peter said with a nod.

MJ looked at Kamala with a sly smirk. "I knew it."

"Shut up, MJ," Kamala said laughing. She then got up and said, "I'm going to the bathroom."

MJ hummed as her old friend left for the bathroom inside Viv's room. Once Kamala was inside, she closed the door behind her and locked it. Her smile disappeared as she slid down against the door and sat on the cold, hard floor. With a deep and heavy exhale, Kamala took out a picture from her pocket. It was a group photo with herself in it... wearing a domino mask and a blue and red uniform with a yellow lightning bolt on her chest.

Next to her was Viv in her natural pink form wearing the sleeveless jumpsuit that Wanda found her in. Alongside her was Peter in his old, pre-Europe spider suit, along with a few other teens in equally bright outfits. It was just a nice looking picture for this wholesome group of super friends... if it actually matched up with reality.

For one thing, Viv stopped wearing that jumpsuit ever since Wanda took her home. She hasn't worn that thing since then. Also, Viv has never seen Peter wear that version of his suit. And neither Viv or Peter has ever seen Kamala wearing this outfit ever, nor have they even met the others in this photo. If Peter or Viv were to look at this picture, they would be utterly confused by what they are seeing.

This picture doesn't matched up with reality at all... so why does it exist? Once more...

Why does Kamala Khan have it?

Kamala smiled, but this time it was laced with a major undercurrent of sorrow as tears streamed down her face. She stroked the image of Viv affectionately with her fingers before dropping the photo on her lap and sobbing quietly into her hands.

Whatever secret Kamala Khan is hiding, that will be a story for another day.

* * *

**Monday**

After school, Viv decided to forgo the bus today and instead walked to an abandoned warehouse on the other side of Queens. She stood inside the dusty, old building for a half hour (an unwise decision for any teenager without superpowers) until Peter arrived. He came in through one of the windows in his full red and black costume. After pulling up a window and slipping inside, Peter jumped down to walk over to Viv, who looked at him with stoic determination.

Taking off his mask, Peter asked the robot girl, "So... you want to be a superhero?"

"Affirmative," Viv said nodding, "You are the only one I know willing to teach me how."

"Are you sure about this?", Peter asked, "Even with your powers, this life is gonna be tough. Hell, there will definitely days where it outright sucks, and you'll have to put your life on the line every single day. This is your last chance to walk away, Viv."

"I know, but... I have to do this. I need to do this."

"Why?"

"Because...", Viv started to say. She was hesitant, but eventually she gathered enough courage to say, "Because it's what my father would've done. He came from a place of darkness, but he used what he was given to make himself better. He became a good person despite being created by someone like Ultron. I came from a better place, but I am... squandering what I have been given. I know now that the only way to honor my father's legacy is if I used the gifts he gave me to help the world like he did."

"I get that. More than you realize," Peter said nodding in agreement, "But there's no way you can hide this from your mom. The moment she sees your true form on the news, she'll know what you're doing. From what I heard, she won't be happy about it."

"I am aware of that," Viv mumbled anxiously, "I will deal with my mother when the time comes, but it's my choice, Peter. So help me. Or don't. Either way, I'm doing this. I'm going to be a hero like my father."

Peter sighed. "Of course I'll help, Viv. Someone's gotta make sure you don't get yourself killed."

"Thank you," Viv said before forming an excited smirk, "So where do we start?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So many things to look forward to in the sequel.
> 
> Where did Kamala get that weird picture? Why was she crying? And Viv is going to be a superhero?! *surprised Pikachu face* What a twist that no one saw coming except everyone with a passing knowledge of modern Marvel Comics!
> 
> But seriously, thanks to everyone who bothered to follow this crappy story, especially the ones nice enough to give me feedback. I would also like the thank everyone who gave this story kudos and bookmarks. You guys are also awesome. I'm pretty sure this series would've been dead in the water without you lot, so thanks for everything. Hopefully, you guys like the developments in this last chapter. I'm worried they might feel a bit rushed, but maybe I'm just being paranoid.
> 
> The next story in this series will be more serialized and have more emphasis on story and action rather than separate pieces of slice-of-life fluff. The other characters in this team I foreshadowed will get their time in the sun. It won't just be about Viv (that's why I'm finishing this story in the first place and moving on to a second phase). I'm going to be coy about what that story will be about, but since I'm feeling generous today, I'll give you guys a couple of gooey details to hype yourself as you wait for the second story to come.
> 
> One of the teens in that group photo is Gwen Stacy! In fact, it's the Gwen Stacy from Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, and yes, she will show up in the second story and be a major character. The second tidbit is that all our main characters, including Peter, Viv, and Kamala, will be attending the Academy of Tomorrow. Why? Let's just say that a certain senator named Robert Kelly will pass legislation that will force them to.
> 
> A few more things before we go. No, Carol is not sticking around for the sequel. She'll actually be a main character in my other ongoing story, "Catra and Adora: Heroes of the Multiverse". I actually dropped hints of this in the second chapter of that story, and I wrote in the Carol segments of this chapter just to introduce her character meat for that story. For those of you who came here from that story, here's the answer to that question I posed. And please, follow that story in the meantime. I'll be working on the chapter with the Viv cameo next as promised.
> 
> Also, I am currently not sure where I want to take the Viv/Kam romance. I'll definitely rock that relationship a bit in the sequel (people who have read my other fic can guess one of the reasons why), but if they will stay together... who knows. It'll be an important part of the story regardless, especially when it comes to the photo. But tell me, do you guys like their romance? I'll probably go my own way, but your input might help me make a more informed decision.
> 
> Lastly, my previous plans mentioned in this story, such as the ones with Teddy Altman, Billy Kaplan, and Magneto, are in the wind for now. I won't confirm or disprove anything at the moment. I just wanna focus on what I want to do for the sequel, and those plans will probably be put in the backburner for now unless I find a use for them sooner than I thought so. This means that the characters I mentioned won't appear for a while, and even then, they'll probably be changed from what I said from the author's notes. That being said, Teddy will probably show up sooner rather than later in a cameo manner, because they're already here and I can probably use their appearances build them up for future stories. But that's an issue for another time.
> 
> That's about it for now. Thanks for the read and your support, and have a nice day. Until next time!


End file.
